


Phoenix is Born

by PsychoBarbie



Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Avengers (2011) - Freeform, Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Big Brother Thor, Brother-Sister Relationships, Buts It's Going to Take a While, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Not Exactly Slow-Burn, Pre-Thor (2011), Protective Thor, Romance, Sam Wilson Is a Good Bro, Tags Are Hard, The Avengers (2012) Compliant, Thor (2011) - Freeform, Thor Would Kill for His Sister, Wonder Woman Inspired Storyline, friendships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-07
Updated: 2018-08-02
Packaged: 2018-08-08 21:14:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 49
Words: 109,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7773616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PsychoBarbie/pseuds/PsychoBarbie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Born of sea foam and in the light of the blood moon, the first daughter in the house of Odin shall come to be. It is she, the one with the power to vanquish all who oppose. She shall have the wisdom and power of the queen, and the command and supremacy of the king. Power like no other before. She who shall ascend the throne of Asgard. Because on that day The Phoenix will be born.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aphrodite is traditionally the Goddess of love in Greek Mythology. So for my story she will posses the same skills Freyja (Goddess of Love, Fertility and Battle).

_"Born of sea foam and in the light of the blood moon, the first daughter in the house of Odin shall come to be._

_It is she, the one with the power to vanquish all who oppose._

_She shall have the wisdom and power of the queen, and the command and supremacy of the king._

_She will possess power like no other before her._

_She who shall ascend the throne of Asgard._

_Because on that day_ _**The Phoenix,** _ _will be born."_

* * *

Odin the King of Asgard had never trusted the Norns, their days of prophetic 'wisdom' had long come to pass. The people of Asgard having stopped turning to them to predict they're future and simply allowing fate to be their guide.

But Odin knew deep in his heart that this was a prophecy could not help but believe. Not only had the Norns prophesied the birth of the child, but the message had be sent through his wife. The Queen Mother of Asgard, Frigga

After the birth of his first son Thor, and the undertaking of a second child, Loki, into the house of Odin, both he and his wife had decided that in order to keep the prophecy from fulfilling itself, Frigga would undertake drastic measures to ensure that she would not bear a child again.

However a momentary lapse in judgement proved that those measures had not yet come to fruition as a night of passion under the stars, and in the waves of Asgard's most beautiful beaches as the King and Queen consummated their millennia long union, under a blood moon, resulted in the Queen Mother once again bearing a child.

Odin though back on that night as he listened to his wife's shouts of pain from within their bedchamber, and cursed himself for not noticing that it was the perfect time for the Norns' prophecy to come true.

He was not cursing his wife or the unborn child, because the thought of being a father to a third child brought him great joy. Odin was, loathe he to admit it, scared. If the Norns' prophecy was true, which thus far it has been, the child would be the most powerful being Asgard has even seen, more powerful than even he himself.

Finally after what seemed to him like ages, Frigga's screams stopped and the sharp piercing cries of a new-born baby filled the space.

The head healer stepped out of the bedchamber.

"My King," She addressed Odin and he stopped his pacing and gave her his full attention. "Her majesty has given birth, to a daughter."

Odin felt himself pale at the words, but stood tall and nodded to the healer before letting her guide him into the chamber.

Upon entering Odin found his wife in the large bed cradling in her arms a bundle that was wrapped in the finest silk Asgard had to offer.

He approached her side and took her hand in his.

"Odin," Frigga said, voice hoarse. "She's absolutely beautiful."

Odin looked into the bundle of silk and felt his heart stop at what he saw, a pair of the bluest eyes that rivalled the waters in which she was conceived peeked out from behind a band of thick lashes. Her nose was an adorable button, her lips soft looking and pink as the petals of the finest rose. Her skin looked like that of pure ivory, her hair looked as if it was spun from the richest gold in all the nine realms. In a word, she was Perfect.

Vaguely he registered the voice of Frigga calling to one of her handmaidens to fetch their sons so they could to meet their sister.

In a soft voice that he didn't know he possessed, Odin asked his wife. "May I?"

Without hesitation. "Of course." Frigga smiled softly and handed the child over to her father.

He held her close and in the moment knew that whatever prophecies the Norns had in store for her, he would do his best to protect her of them. To protect her from anyone or anything that dared to cause her harm.

He had to know if her skin was as soft as it looked, so as gently as he could manage he tentatively reached out with a single finger and stroked her cheek. At the contact her eyes opened and she gazed up into his one. With a small hand she reached up shakily and touched the patch that covered the other, before she dropped her hand and her eyes closed once again.

The opening of the heavy door that lead to their bedchamber broke him out of the trance that she had him in, he looked up to see two heads poking in, one golden blonde the other jet black. Odin carefully handed the child back over to Frigga and gestured the boys in.

"Come," he said waving his hand. "Meet your sister."

Slowly they moved closer to the bed before cautiously climbing on top the mattress and crawling closer to where Frigga sat cradling the baby.

"Say hello to your sister." Frigga said in a soothing voice turning the baby around so that her brothers could see her for the first time.

Noises of awe came from both boys as they gazed at her.

"She's so tiny." The voice of Thor came in wonder.

"She's a baby." Loki snapped in a voice of bewilderment.

"Exactly," Frigga chuckled. "You were once this small, my son."

"I doubt that." Thor said.

Frigga smiled again. "Would you like to hold her?" She questioned Thor, who was the oldest.

He nodded and settled himself down at Odin's side as he showed him the proper way to hold the baby. Then Frigga carefully placed the baby in Thor's waiting arms. Thor marvelled at her and hesitantly reached out to touch her and when he did she opened her eyes, made a noise of contempt and settle back down.

Then it was Loki's turn, and he was immediately and unwaveringly placed under the same captivating spell as the rest of his family. When Loki reached out to touch her it was one small finger on an even smaller open palm, which she reflexively grasped in a grip so tight and strong it shocked him.

"What is her name?" Loki asked without taking his eyes off of her.

"Aphrodite." Frigga said stroking her hair. "Her name is Aphrodite."

Loki hummed and handed Aphrodite back to his mother, as she was started to get fussy because she was hungry, Odin instructed them to take their leave as Frigga began to nurse.

Odin decided, whether or not Aphrodite was to be the one to one day save Asgard. Whether or not she was to be the first woman to ascend the throne. Whether or not she truly was the Phoenix. She was, for now a baby that deserves his unreserved love and protection, and he would do just that.

So long as the fates allowed.


	2. Chapter 2

Years after her birth Aphrodite was hitting all of her milestones and taking all the challenges that came along with them in stride.

She did however have a perpetual pension for causing problems about the palace. Whether it be with one or both of her brothers or by herself. She seemed to be always involved in some sort of ruckus.

Much to Odin's relief though, despite her seemingly endless curiosity for the world around her Aphrodite had not yet shown any indication of some form of power or gift.

Presently, Odin was leading all three of his children through the palace and telling them the story of the Frost Giants battling the Asgardians.

"And here we remain as a beacon of hope, shining out across the stars, and though we have fallen into the myths and legends. It was Asgard. Its warriors, that brought peace to the universe." He finished his story in the weapons vault standing in front of the Casket of Ancient Winters. A prize that he kept as a reminder of the battle of Jotunheim. "But the day will come, when one of you," Odin spoke to his three children but was clearly addressing his two sons, "has to defend that peace."

"Do the frost giants still live?" The ever curious dark haired prince named Loki asked.

"When I'm king," The blond prince named Thor interrupted before Odin could answer. "I'll hunt the monsters down and slay them all." Thor said while throwing punches to an imaginary enemy. "Just as you did father."

"A wise king should never go looking for a war." Aphrodite said softly. "Right father?" She asked.

"Correct my princess," He said before scooping her up and resting her on his hip. "But he should always be ready for it." He said addressing her brothers before walking away. Thor and Loki running to catch up.

"I am ready father." Thor said with determination and he held onto father's hand.

"So am I." Loki added as he held onto his father's forearm because he was currently holding up his little sister.

Odin smiled at his children. "Only one of you can ascend to the throne. Both of you were born to be king." He said as the exited the weapons vault. "Now it's off to weapons training for the both of you," He spoke to the boys. "And you," he said putting Aphrodite down and lowering himself to her level. "It's time for your lessons with your mother."

"Why can't I train too father?"

Odin stood and began leading her away. "When the time is right, you will join your brothers."

"Maybe that time should be now?" Aphrodite questioned as she swung their clasped hands.

Odin chuckled. "One day daughter. One day." He said as they finally arrived at the Great Library and he pushed open the heavy doors.

"Mother," Aphrodite called as she was finishing up her studies. "Why won't father let me train with my brothers?"

"Your father feels that learning to defend yourself and so our realm, would not be becoming of a young lady such as yourself."

"But why?"

"You know how to fight Mother."

"It's about more than just fighting Dear. Becoming a warrior takes patience, and years or practice, and most important it requires one to be able to surpass all odds that may be stacked against them."

"I can do all that, and so much more mother, if only given the chance."

Frigga smiled gently. "I know all too well what you are capable of Aphrodite." The suddenly there was a book in the Queen's hands. "Now," She placed the book in front of Aphrodite. "I need to step away for a moment, but do continue with your studies."

Frigga then turned and left the Great Library and Aphrodite looked down at the new book before her.

Thick and leather bound like many of the books in the library, but strangely lacking any title, Aphrodite opened the book and found a note on the inside.

 _"Not everything, is always as it seems."_ It said in an unfamiliar script.

Thoroughly confused and interest perked, she turned the page and found a drawing of the front doors and parlour of the castle. Odd. She thought

Flipping through she was met with different renderings of the palace with notes made on the side.

The very centre of the book was what shocked her the most, it was a detailed map of the castle from what looked to be a bird's eye view which contained different markings and symbols outlining several passageways running the length of the castle.

Jae dropping Aphrodite turned the page again and found drawings of the passageways in the kitchen, then on the floor which she shared with her brothers, the king and queens floor, the weapons vault various other places throughout some even leading to outside the castle to the forest behind, then finally leading to the training grounds.

Aphrodite's eyes lit up just as her mother walked back in.

"Mother this book-" She began to excitedly tell her what she'd discovered only to be cut off.

"Lessons have finished for today Aphrodite. You're free to do as you please until supper."

Heading her unspoken command of not mentioning what she found in the book Aphrodite nodded.

"Yes mother."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The events of this chapter were heavily inspired by Wonder Woman.  
> I own nothing.

It took Aphrodite nearly a month before she had the passageways memorized, then another week before she attempted using one. Even then it was only to make a trip to the kitchens then straight back to her room.

Eventually she began to get bolder with wandering the passageways and had begun the habit of popping up into her brother's conversations and disappearing from them altogether. She realised in nearly driving them mad with their questions of how she was able to do it.

Finally she decided it was time for her to spy on Thor and Loki's training sessions.

Carefully making her way through the now memorized passage she found herself outside the castle looking down the training groups in nothing short of astonishment.

Thor and Loki were of course there along with a handful of other children staring up at their instructor fully focused. It also doesn't escape her notice that there wasn't a single girl in the class. Only boys and young men.

She didn't stay there too long out of fear of being caught because she was so exposed. But she stayed long enough to see the instructor teaching the boys a few moves and them imitating him as best they could.

Quickly she swept through the passage and back to her room in amazement at what her brothers had been doing also determination to convince her father to let her join them.

* * *

Loki was extremely perceptive. So when he felt eyes on he and Thor during training sessions but couldn't identify where exactly they were coming from, his first thought was that he was going mad.

That theory however was quickly put to rest when during a training session he glanced up at the palace balcony and as shocked as he was he didn't let it show, so not to alert the instructor. He did however nudge his brother then subtly nodded in the direction of the palace.

Thor looked up for himself and saw Aphrodite up on the balcony, shadowing the instructor's moves. Both glanced at each other curiously before focusing back up at the instructor.

It became a normal occurrence to look up on the palace balcony and see Aphrodite up there. Even the instructor had taken notice and had more than once glanced up at her form and nod approvingly. But he knew far better than to invite her down to join in proper training.

Even the queen was aware of Aphrodite's distant involvement in training.

However by order of Odin Allfather himself, the princess was not allowed to participate in most all of the physical activities that the princes could.

* * *

"You what father will say if he finds out?" Loki had finally cornered her one day in the Great Library and confronted her about her distance involvement in training.

"He won't say, because he won't find out." Aphrodite snapped.

"He'll find out eventually sister."

"Do you plan on telling him?"

"Of course not."

"Then leave it to me, I'll figure out a way to convince him." A suddenly sharp pain cutting through her head stopped her rant and she momentarily blacked out. When she came to, she was on the floor leaning back against one of the bookcases Loki was kneeling in front of her looking concerned.

"Aphrodite?" He said cradling her head. "Are you alright?" he said when she finally focused on him.

"What happened?"

"You fainted."

"What?"

"Come," Loki said wrapping his arm around her and pulling her up. "We must get you to the healers at once."

"No!"

"Aphro-" Loki began to protest but she cut him off.

"I'm fine, I just need to rest for a while."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm certain." When he still wasn't convinced, she pleaded with her eyes. "Please Loki."

He sighed heavily. "Fine."

* * *

She however what not  _fine._ While she hadn't fainted again prior to that day, she did continue to have rather painful headaches. Of course she knew that she should inform someone of the brief flashes of pain she was be in, but she didn't. Instead she resolutely ignored them.

That she learned in a near fatal manner, was a mistake.

Once again she was engaging in her own private lesson high up above the training grounds, when the headache came back full force and had her losing consciousness once again, this time however the ground was much further away.

The class below as well as the instructor gasped in unison, when she fell from the ledge, both Loki and Thor taking a step forward as if to somehow catch her from their distance away, when her descent came to an abrupt stop.

Aphrodite came back to find herself dangling over the side of the palace, her wrist encased by a strong grip that she immediately recognized.

"Hello father." She greeted looking up into his one good eye that was narrowed at her. "How are you on this lovely day?" She said hopefully trying to dissuade him, but he simply shook his head and pulled her back into the palace.

* * *

"What were you thinking?" Odin questioned sharply leading her back through the palace.

"I was fine until my headache came back father."

"Headache?" Odin echoed and she nodded. "What headache?"

"I've been having very serious headaches for some time now. But I've only fainted one other time."

"Why haven't you gone to see the healers?"

"I didn't think it quite that severe."

Odin pressed his lips into a firm thin and led her with greater purpose to the healing room.

Once there his deposited her onto one of the beds and instructed a healer to summon the Queen.

Odin pressed his hand to Aphrodite's forehead and saw nothing out of the ordinary.

He let the head healer made a Soul Forge appear above Aphrodite and examined her just as Frigga burst into the room.

"What happened?" She said immediately heading for her daughter.

"She fainted." Odin supplied. "The reason why, is still unclear."

"And it will remain that way, your majesties." The healer said dissipating the Soul Forge. "There is nothing physically wrong with her that I can detect. However-"

"Aphrodite," Odin interrupted. "You many go to your chambers. We'll be there shortly to check on you."

Aphrodite looked at her parents confused at Odin's reluctance to discuss her condition with her in the room, but she ultimately did as she was told.

"Your majesties. It is extremely likely that the reason for the princess' unfortunate present condition is that, she may be developing powers. It would also explain why it wouldn't be detected in the Soul Forge."

"Odin," Frigga said. "Maybe it's time."

"No." Odin said instantly. "No, not yet. She's not ready."

"As you wish." Frigga relented.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No copy write infringement intended. All rights to their original owners.

Aphrodite was asleep in her room after her tiring day when a hand covering her mouth jolted her harshly from her sleep.

She opened her eyes to see her mother standing above her gesturing for her to keep quiet.

Aphrodite removed her hand. "Five for minutes?" she asked making to burrow down into her sheets.

"We will not be continuing your studies for a while child." Frigga said pulling back the sheets. "Get up. Quickly."

"What's wrong?"

"I'll explain once we've left the palace." Frigga said tossing Aphrodite her cloak and then leading her through the tunnels and to a field on the outskirts of the palace.

"Mother what are we doing?"

"You wanted to learn to defend yourself. I'm going to show you." Frigga said simply.

"Really?" Aphrodite said in disbelief. "What about father?"

"What your Odin doesn't know, won't hurt him." Frigga said removing her cloak and Aphrodite did the same. "The first thing you must know, and must always remember, is that you are stronger than you think. Do you understand?"

Aphrodite nodded. "I understand."

"Then let us begin."

* * *

Aphrodite had finally gotten what she'd wanted, her training with Frigga had been going on for quite some time and no one in the palace was the wiser.

Frigga was a kind but strict teacher, who always pushed her harder with each passing day, but never past her limits. And she would consistently say something along the lines of 'You're stronger than you know'. Frigga had taught her the proper way to handle a sword and also all that she knew of hand to hand combat.

Their training still took place in the late hours of the night when all of Asgard had long since went to sleep. They were in the middle of an intense sword battle when everything nearly came crashing down.

* * *

Frigga swung her sword and Aphrodite ducked down before swinging out her leg in an attempt to trip her but Frigga jumped over and sprang right back into it.

Their swords clashed for some time before Aphrodite was knocked to the ground by a hit to her back. She rolled over and stared up at her mother.

"Concentrate Aphrodite." Frigga said for what must have been the thousandth time.

"I am concentrating."

"No you're not! You're stronger than you know. And more powerful than you can comprehend. But if you don't try harder, you will never realize what you are. Understand?" Aphrodite nodded. "Again." Frigga encouraged.

Aphrodite stood and they went at it once again for a while until they were interrupted by a thundering of hooves approaching them.

"Frigga! Aphrodite!" Odin riding up to them. He dismounted his horse, Sleipnir, and moved toward them. "It appears that I am not the respected king that I should be. Betrayed by my wife. Are my words nothing but noise that you ignore them so easily?"

"It's my fault father." Aphrodite said stepping between them. "I asked, begged mother to teach me."

"Aphrodite?" Frigga said.

"The fault is mine."

"Even after I've expressly told you that you were not to engage in such activities."

"Yes father."

"I've told you before, there is no need for you to train to become a warrior. Your brothers-"

"My brothers?" Aphrodite cut him off. "I'm sorry father, but Thor and Loki are learning and training to defend Asgard. What right have I to do any less than them?"

"Because I've forbidden it!" Odin raised his voice.

"Why!" Aphrodite shouted.

"You would not understand." He said after a moment of silence.

"Then help me too." When the tense silence between them became too much Aphrodite turned and began making her way back to the palace.

* * *

"How long has this been going on?"

"Decades." Frigga responded. "You've neglected your duty as King by not letting her fight."

"There is still time."

"No there isn't. And the longer we wait, the more it will consume her. The easier it will be for it to consume her."

"You speak of a time that my never come."

"And if it does she must be ready. Odin," Frigga said gaining his attention. "I love her, just as you do and I want to protect her just the same. But forcing her away from the path of a true warrior is not the way to do it."

"The stronger she gets, the easier it will be for her to lose control."

"Not if she is taught better." Frigga insisted.

"Do you truly believe that she is ready?"

"Far beyond. This is the only way to truly protect her."

Odin sighed and looked out over the kingdom from the balcony of their room.

"She will be trained harder, then any other Asgardian Warrior before her. Five times as hard. Ten times as hard. Ten times as long. On every weapon that Asgard has at its disposal. Until she has mastered them all. Until she is better, and stronger, and faster than them all."

"Even Thor and Loki?" Frigga questioned quietly beaming.

"Especially them. Only then can she truly be a warrior."

"But she'll never know?"

"She can never know the truth, about what she is. Or what she is destined to become."


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No copy write infringement intended. All rights to their original owners.  
> Once again some events of this chapter have been inspired by Wonder Woman.

Though the Allfather had declared that Aphrodite be allowed to train, the members of his council as well as many of his advisors were not so quick.

"My King, you simply must understand that it is unheard of for a women to be a warrior of Asgard."

"I understand perfectly. I simply do not care." Odin responded evenly.

"Allfather, if you allow this to happen. Asgard would become the laughing stock of the realms."

"Tell me Lord's where is it written in Asgard's history that a woman cannot be a warrior."

The council surrounding the chamber murmured to one another.

"It has never been expressly written or forbidden, however-"

"Then I say again. Aphrodite shall be trained as an Asgardian warrior, and she will be treated with the same about of respect as her peers."

"Allfather, need I remind you that despite our history books never explicitly stating that a woman cannot be a warrior, it has been said that women to not belong on the battlefield."

"It has also been said that there shall never be a woman born into the house of Odin, and yet she is here. Or are you suggesting that my daughter, my Aphrodite is not worthy to carry out the name?"

"Of course not Allfather."

"Then it is settled, from this day forth Aphrodite Odindottir will be trained amoung Asgard's finest."

* * *

_"She will be trained harder than any Asgardian Warrior before her,"_

Train harder she did.

Aphrodite was put up against every tests, trained on every weapon and every obstacle Asgard had to offer.

To say it was hard would be an understatement. But she knew that it was what she had to do.

Currently she was in the training arena with the Warriors Three, along with Thor and Loki. It was a bit of a free for all, Aphrodite was competing against whomever set foot in the arena at a time.

At the moment it was Frandral. His sword clashed hard with hers, he spun around and struck again but Aphrodite ducked out of the way, when he stumbled she used his leg as leverage to push herself up until she was sitting on top of his shoulder, then rammed her elbow down onto his head once before quickly rolling forward and using her legs to throw him aside.

She stood and looked over to where Thor and Loki were standing only to catch Loki's eye as he motioned towards the balcony. Aphrodite looked there to see Odin standing there along with Frigga and his advisors.

She smirked and blocked Hogun as he came charging to her. Hogun was quick as he swung his mace but the silent warrior was always controlled, he swung but Aphrodite danced around him and rolled out of the way grabbing a second sword and rose to her knees just as his mace came down. She caught the blunt weapon between her swords then twisted them sharply forcing Hogun to release his mace and Aphrodite tossed it aside before kicking him hard in the chest.

Her victory over the silent warrior was short-lived as Volstagg swung hard with his axe and knocked one of the swords from her hand. She turned her attention to the much larger warrior and blocked his next hit with the metal armbands adorning her wrist but failed to do the same for the following hit with the tail end of his axe that caught her in the jaw. Frigga flinched at the hit from the much larger warrior but Aphrodite merely shook her head hard before going at Volstagg once again and managing to disarm him after a few hard strikes with her sword.

She stared at Thor and Loki as Volstagg backed out of the arena, knowing that one of them would be next. Loki stepped forward confidently and Aphrodite tossed the sword she'd been using off to the side instead pulling out a pair of daggers.

Loki smirked and dove towards her with his daggers, Aphrodite met him blow for blow and for a moment they were nothing more than the sound of metal meeting metal and a blur of gold, green and blue. Loki was behind her with his dagger held at her neck, because of where he was leaning over her shoulder Aphrodite kicked up with her leg and managed to catch him forcing him to release her and stumble back.

They parried again and Loki swept his leg out and knocked Aphrodite down onto her back, he smirked again and Aphrodite returned it and tilted her head before rocking back on her arms and pushing herself back to her feet. Loki twirled his dagger once, and they were back at it again. He struck out at her but she moved in time and held his arm keeping it outstretched before using her own dagger to disarm him, then did the same with his other arm. Loki reached back and hooked her arm around her, Aphrodite swung around him and wrapped her legs around his head swinging her body so that Loki was tossed aside and she landed on her feet.

Aphrodite breathed hard as Thor stepped into the arena, they circled each other as Thor casually swung his hammer around this time Aphrodite swung first with her dagger. Thor blocked with his hammer then swung it at her but Aphrodite dropped down and tried to sweep out his legs but Thor jumped over when she stood again Thor struck with his hammer knocking one of her daggers from her grip. Then kicked her back.

Aphrodite stood then glanced at the balcony once more before going after Thor once again. She kicked at his leg and her fell to a knee and tried to strike with his hammer but Aphrodite blocked and knocked the hammer from his grasp where it flew and hit the wall. While Aphrodite searched for Odin's approval again, Thor tossed his head back whipping the hair from his face the in one fluid motion got up from his kneeled position and swept Aphrodite's feet from beneath her. He held out his hand and immediately his hammer flew back into his grip, he brought it down but she used her bands to block it, sparks irrupted each time they clashed Thor driving her back each time he swung.

Thor grew tired of the games and jumped up high bringing his hammer down intending to end the battle, but Aphrodite brought both her arms in front of her to block the blow and unknown to her, and to the shock of everyone around to see it, a force field enveloped her protecting her from the blow. But it was too late for Thor as he brought down his hammer against the force field and was thrown back at the resulting wave that swept through the arena.

Aphrodite looked around in shock, before lowering her arms and the force field going down with it. The warriors three crowded around Thor who sat up extremely dazed.

"Thor," she said making a move to approach him but Loki stopped her. "I'm sorry." She stammered not knowing what else to say. She looked to Loki who only shook his head then back at Thor who was starting to sit up. "I'm sorry." She said again pulling away from Loki and turning to leave the arena.

"Aphrodite." Loki called out but she ignored him, breaking into a run.

Thor carefully rose up to his knees and looked around at the damage that was done to the arena, the stared at where Aphrodite had run off.

Up on the balcony Odin sighed at the display and closed his eye.

"What have I done?"

* * *

"Impressive showing today Aphrodite." Odin complimented when he found Aphrodite much later that day, near the waters in which she was conceived. She often found solace there he had learned.

"Is Thor alright?"

"Nothing more than his pride was wounded."

Aphrodite cracked a small smile. "They said it wasn't possible."

"Many things were thought to be impossible before you were born my child." Odin came closer and held out his hand. "Come, there's something you need to see."

* * *

_"She is ready."_

_"Daughter of Odin."_

A voice whispered through the darkness.

_"It's time Aphrodite."_

Aphrodite rolled over in her bed as the voices got louder. The three voices she was hearing competing with one another but still managing to sound harmonious.

_"It's time to realize who you are."_

_"It's time for you to know what you are."_

_"Wake up now."_

_"Listen to our voice."_

_"Wake up."_

_"Control the power."_

_"Wake up."_

_"You_ _**are** _ _the power."_

_"Wake up!"_

Aphrodite's eyes snapped open and were glowing gold.

Across the palace Odin was sleeping peacefully alongside his wife when his eyes too opened sharply and an unpleasant feeling settled in his stomach as he whispered one word.

"Aphrodite."

Then an explosion rocked the castle.

* * *

Both Thor and Loki immediately jumped out of bed in their respective bedrooms at the sound of the explosion. Thinking that the castle was under attack the both rushed to their doors and threw them open only to be met with one another.

"What happened?" Thor questioned.

"No idea." Loki responded as they both took off down the hall.

The intention was to grab Aphrodite on the way to, wherever they were headed however were stopped short at the sight of the guards that were always posted in the hallways lying unconscious and the doors that led to Aphrodite's chambers were blown to pieces.

They entered room to find Odin and Frigga standing over Aphrodite's empty bed.

"Where is she?" Loki immediately questioned moving over to Frigga.

"Gone." Odin said simply.

"Where?" Thor questioned his father.

Odin was about to respond when the sudden light of the Bifrost activating stole their attention, they all ran to the balcony just in time to see it shoot out the infamous strobe of light, then deactivate.

* * *

"I cannot see her." Heimdall said solemnly.

Never before had four words brought on such an unpleasant feeling in the family members of Odin's house that remained.

"I knew this would happen." Odin said angrily.

"What has happened father? Where is she?" Loki questioned on the verge of panicking.

"Odin," Frigga said gently placing her hand on his back. "They deserve to know too."

"We deserve to know what?" Thor questioned, his panic rising too.

"Close the Bi-Frost." Odin instead turned and spoke to Heimdall. "No one is to come in or out." Heimdall nodded and obediently removed his sword. "Come." Odin said to his family.

* * *

"The day Aphrodite was born, I was visited in a vision by the Norns." Odin had lead them to the Great Library and placed a book in the centre of one of the tables.

"The Norns?" The questioned as Odin turned a page in the book to reveal a moving pictures three figure clothed in tattered black robes.

"Fates known by some, sisters Skuld, Urd, and Verdandi, were the overseers of the fates of the people of the Nine Worlds. They made their home in the roots of Yggdrasill when by father Bor banished them from the realms."

"Why?" Loki questioned.

"For many centuries the people of the Nine Realms consulted the Norns for wisdom, but they became greedy. They wanted the Norns not to predict their fate, but to change it. The Norns grew powerful, too powerful, they began changing the fates of anyone and manipulating the destinies of many Asgardians so as to bring about Ragnarok. When by father learned of their treacherous acts he banished them, he feared that he had not managed to be rid of them completely. He was right."

"What does all that have to do with Aphrodite?"

"The Norns gained their power by leeching for the souls of Asgardian's and others alike, the more powerful an individual is, they more powerful they become."

"Yes, but, where does  _she_ fit into all this?"

"Aphrodite may be the most powerful person Asgard has ever encountered." Frigga spoke for the first time in while ringing her fingers nervously as Thor and Loki looked on in shock. "They were drawn to her the moment she was born."

"Her power, if unlocked, is limitless. When she was a girl, I tried to protect her, I tried to stop her from reaching her full potential so that it would be near impossible for the Norns to find her. Frigga convinced me that the only way to protect her, was to teach her to protect herself, it seemed successful, at first. Earlier today she tapped into a part of herself that allowed the Norns to reach out to her, and it seems to control her. To an extent."

"What do they want?"

"What they've always wanted." Frigga spoke again. "To bring about Ragnarok, and if they are able to force Aphrodite to reached her full potential, they will drain the life from her and they will do it."

"They call her the Phoenix," Odin continued turning to a page in the book that revealed an illustration of the creature in question. "A force representing life that has not yet been born, a being is nearly indestructible and the manifestation of the universes energy."

"So you're saying, if they are able to awaken the Phoenix Ragnarok will soon follow?" Loki clarified.

"Precisely." Odin confirmed.

Thor growled and held out his hand, then within moments Mjolnir flew into his grip. "Then why are we still standing around?"

"My son, it is not that simple." Frigga placated.

"My father searched for centuries for the Norns' lair. They cannot be found unless they want to be." Odin said.

"They can't be reached." Loki spoke up. "But  _she_  can."


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Events of this chapter inspired by X-Men: Apocalypse.  
> No copy write infringement intended. All rights to their original owners.

Aphrodite woke soon after to a pounding headache, groaning she rubbed the bridge of her nose trying to fight off the ache while also using her powers to try and figure out what had happened.

Blinking a few times she took notice of the three figures standing before her with their backs turned. Then she looked around to see that they were on a piece of barren land covered in rocks and dirt. Before them though stretched the branches of Yggdrasil and all the realms that it connected.

"What-" She mumbled drowsily catching the attention of the three figures. "What happened?"

"She's awake." A gravelly voice spoke.

"Who are you?" was her next question then she groaned again raising a hand to her head. "You're blocking me."

"For now." Another voice spoke.

"We can shield our minds from your power." A third voice spoke. "It's a gift we've acquired over then millennia we've been trapped here."

"But to see inside another's mind, to control it. That's your gift isn't it Odindottir? One of many."

"I can't control the minds of other people."

"But you can."

"We've been watching you Odindottir. Since the day you were born."

"We've seen what you can do, what you've done. But more important, we've seen what you haven't."

"Who are you?" Aphrodite repeated.

"We have had many names, 'Fates', 'Norns', 'Oracles', we are the beginning of life itself. We were there when the universe was created, we've seen its end."

"We were there to set alight the flame of man's awakening, and when their death came we were there to carry the lost souls through to the next world."

"When the forests grew rank and needed clearing we were there to give it new growth."

"Why are you here now?"

"We've come for you, Aphrodite Odindottir."

"You, Odindottir, will reach through the roots of Yggdrasil to every living mind on the other side, through every realm and deliver a message."

Aphrodite shook her head. "I can't reach that many beings, it's impossible."

One of the three voices laughed and the sounds rose the hairs on the back of Aphrodite's next. "Dear Girl, you have no idea what's possible with us."

"You haven't seen the true depth of your power but we have."

"Now," one of them reached a shrivelled up hand out from within their robes and lifted Aphrodite up from the ground. "Deliver our message."

* * *

 

On Asgard Thor paced around agitatedly while his mother, father and brother tried to reach out with their minds to find Aphrodite.

Since he himself did not possess any magical or telepathic abilities he could do nothing but wait idly by, which frustrated him to no end.

"She's blocking us out." Loki said an angry growl.

"She is so powerful." Frigga said next.

 _"Hear me inhabitants of these realms."_ A voice suddenly said in everyone's minds.

"What is that?" Thor questioned.

"It's her."

_"This is a message to every man and woman, elf and dwarf, mortal and god._

_You have lost your way._

_But we have returned"_

* * *

 

All across the nine realms from Asgard to Alfheim heard the Aphrodite's voice in their heads.

Some, like the mortals on Midgard were confused and scared while the others in the realms were intrigued by the voice.

_"The day of reckoning is here._

_All your buildings, all your towers, and temples will fall._

_And the dawn of a new age will rise._

_For there is nothing you can do, to stop what is coming._

_With this vessel, the very foundations of your world will crumble._

_Prepare yourselves, for Ragnarok will soon be upon you."_

* * *

 

_"I now speak to you, Asgardians."_

The city of Asgard normally so full of life was frozen in shock as the voice continued to speak through all their minds.

_"Asgard, Realm of the Gods._

_The realm that cast us out._

_You will fall first."_

**_"Loki,"_**  Loki reeled as the voice whispered through the back of his mind.  ** _"Loki, they're coming."_**

_"This message is for one reason alone._

_It is time to confront your fate."_

**_"Loki, it's coming. Ragnarok."_ **

_"But know this, if you fight, you will die._

_For you destiny is not ours, it is ours."_

"She just spoke to me." Loki said immediately once Aphrodite's voice had faded away.

"She spoke to all of us." Thor said.

"No," Loki responded. "She sent me a different message.

"What did she say?" Odin questioned.

"She said Ragnarok is coming."

* * *

 

Aphrodite laid panting at the base of the tree after the amount of energy she had just exerted. The three before her looked like they couldn't have cared less though.

The idea that their time had finally come was much too appealing to bother with Aphrodite's lack of strength.

She could only hope that Loki had received her message and that Asgard was preparing for battle.

"We were once meant to rule these realms." Skuld said staring greedily at the tree.

"And now with you as our vessel, our Phoenix, we will." Urd finished.

Before Aphrodite could question what exactly she meant the three had shed their robes and she couldn't help but gasp.

The three of them were barely more than decayed corpses. Most likely due to being trapped for who knows how long, and using the little energy they had to hone their magical gifts and try to reach Aphrodite at the same time.

"Horrifying isn't it?" Verdandi questioned knowingly.

"No matter," Skuld said as the three of them began to circle Aphrodite like vultures. "When we're finished with you, our forms shall be returned to the glory they once were."

"Now then," Urd said, "Who wants to go first?"

At once their eyes became pitch black then their shrivelled up forms seemed to dissipate completely turning into smoke of black which swirled ominously before diving forward into Aphrodite.

Aphrodite gritted her teeth as she felt the dark magic of the three of them working inside of her, fighting for control. She groaned and thrashed on the hard stone ground but could do nothing as the three immortal being searched deep into her mind for all the power they could find there.

Finally after what felt like a lifetime later a black cloud forced itself from inside her body and returned to their original positions inside the tattered black robes, if Aphrodite were able to open her eyes she would have noticed the difference right away in that the two Norns had aged backwards and now possessed a nearly ethereal glow.

Finally Aphrodite's eyes opened, only they weren't hers. They were pitch black like the Norns before here.

"Extraordinary," Aphrodite spoke, but the voice wasn't her own. "I've never felt power like this before."

* * *

**There's one more chapter, which I'm calling The Battle of Asgard, then we get into the first Thor movie. Which is thankfully mostly finished writing.**

**Let me know what you think and your ideas on what's to come.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No copyright infringement is intended. All right's to their original owners.
> 
> Events of this chapter, as you probably already know, have be inspired by Wonder Woman.
> 
> P.S. I highly recommend listening to Wonder Woman's theme song while reading this chapter, because I listened to it as I wrote most of the chapter and it really help set the mood.

"What did you do to me?" Aphrodite questioned gasping for breath, as her eyes turned back to their natural blue colour.

"We've expanded your mind." Skuld said calmly.

"You truly have no idea what you're capable of." Urd said in awe.

"I won't let you use me to hurt these realms." Aphrodite said through gritted teeth.

"Oh, darling, you think you have a choice."

Aphrodite groaned again and screamed as the pain exploded in her skull once again.

 _"Thank you for letting us in."_ The voice of Verdandi spoke in her head before everything went black.

* * *

Aphrodite stood slowly and rolled back her neck before opening her eyes and revealing that they were pitch black in colour showing that Verdandi was in control.

"Stubborn this one," She said smirking slightly as she shook out her shoulders, or rather Aphrodite's shoulders as she tried to get comfortable in the new body. "She fights me for control. No matter, once we've absorbed her power, we will no longer have use for her. Sisters?" Urd and Skuld looked eagerly to the vessel being controlled by their eldest sister. "Our day of reckoning has come."

Smiling sinisterly Verdandi tapped into Aphrodite's power and once she felt it surround her she reach forward into the roots of the tree and felt her sister's place their hands upon either of her shoulder's before they were pulled through the roots of Yggdrasil and flown throughout the realms.

_"Look at them Aphrodite. So weak. They need us know more than ever. The fate of the worlds has never been more essential."_

Finally through the bright lights of the Bifrost, they landed on Asgard.

Urd took a deep breath. "We're free." She said astonished.

"No," Verdandi said. "We're home."

"Odindottir?" A third unknown voice spoke, and the three of them turned to see the gatekeeper staring at them inquisitively with his golden eyes, undoubtedly wondering how the Bifrost had be activated without his control. "Aphrodite?" he asked again when her got no response, reluctantly stepping down from his post and taking her in, her pronounced cheekbones and sunken in eyes combined with the sheen of sweat settled on her skin as well as the two figures standing behind her. But the thing that gave him the most concern was that her eyes were pitch black.

"Take care of him." Verdandi commanded and Skuld blasted the gatekeeper and he flew back crashing into one side of the observatory before falling down and unconscious.

"Nice." Skuld commented admiring her power.

"Let's have a look at what the Allfather has done with this realm."

* * *

"What was that?" Thor questioned looking out the window toward the Bifrost's observatory which had just deactivated.

"I thought Heimdall closed the Bifrost."

"He did." Odin commented standing from his throne. "She's here."

"Very, very good Borson," Aphrodite's voice came suddenly, mockingly. "You always were the perceptive one. And what a lovely girl you're raising, so" she sighed, "unique." Aphrodite suddenly appeared at the entrance of the Great Hall, "but of course you knew that. That's why you wanted to keep her for yourself."

"I wanted to keep her safe." Odin responded descending the stairs to his throne and feeling unsettled by seeing his daughter's eyes.

_"Father,"_

"By keeping her from realizing her true power." Verdandi accused.

_"The people, they're being attacked."_

"No matter," Verdandi continued and Odin realized that she didn't know Aphrodite had broken free from her, at least for a moment. "In our care, she will reach that as so much more."

Odin growled and shot at her with Gungnir, only for the image to fade away as soon as the blast hit it.

"Father," Thor said but Odin cut him off.

"She spoke to me, Aphrodite, in my head." Odin said quickly moving towards the entrance of the castle, Thor, Loki and even Frigga following close behind. "The city is under attack."

The four of them exited the castle bracing themselves against the racing winds only to find that Asgard was nearly, in ruins. Anything that wasn't on fire had already been reduced to rubble and there was no sign of the citizens anywhere.

There in the centre flying high above the carnage was Verdandi in Aphrodite's body using her power to control the raging fires.

"Don't you see it Borson," Verdandi said turning to face the royal family as Urd and Skuld. "This is what she was always meant to be." She then spoke to Urd. "Separate them."

* * *

Aphrodite watched helplessly as Verdandi destroyed her home, Urd was busy battling Loki and Thor while Skuld was handling Odin and Frigga.

_"Don't you see Aphrodite how weak these worlds are, how easily they crumble at your fingertips, I am not your enemy. I am the only one who saw you for what you truly are."_

_"And what is that?"_

_"Power, truly a Goddess amoung insects. All I've ever wanted was for them to see how easy it is for fate to lead them astray."_

_"No."_

_"When you were born I wanted to kill you, but I thought that is you could see what Bor himself could not, you would join me, and we would combine our power, rule these realms the way they should be. Join me."_

Aphrodite looked around at Asgard being destroyed by her hand, then down towards her family who were gaining the upper hand against the other two Norns.

 _"I could never be a part of that."_ She spoke just as Thor struck Urd with a bolt of lightning the same time Odin blasted Skuld with Gungnir and they both disintegrated.

"No!" Verdandi roared a she fell, feeling the death of her sisters deep within her.

 _"You wanted my power,"_ Aphrodite spoke.  _"Here it is."_

Verdandi screamed as Aphrodite began fighting back from within.

 _"I don't wish to fight you Aphrodite,"_ Verdandi said in warning,  _"But if I must."_ She said before the same ugly black smoke rushed out from Aphrodite and left her panting on the ground, Thor helped to sit her up she the smoke swirled before coming together to form the rejuvenated Verdandi.

"You will help me to destroy these realms, or you will die." Verdandi thrust out her hand and suddenly her family were all on the ground writhing in pain.

"No!" Aphrodite screamed rushing at Verdandi.

"Is that all you've got?" Verdandi teased as she caught Aphrodite and tossed her into an already crumbling house tearing it down father.

Aphrodite stood and used her magic to lift the beams that had supported the house and threw them at Verdandi only for her to blast them breaking them apart, then she shot magic at Aphrodite throwing her back again.

"It is futile to think you can resist, give up Aphrodite." Groaning Aphrodite looked to her family still writhing in pain. "Don't you see, look at them, weak pathetic and soon they shall be gone."

Aphrodite flew at her taking her down and managed to hit her twice before she was thrown off, she landed just in front of Thor and looked at him struggling to breathe, then to Loki, and finally to Odin and Frigga, who despite to obvious torture were still reaching out to each other.

"Look at them and tell me I'm wrong. Our fate, our destinies have always be entwined Aphrodite, they do not deserve you."

"You're wrong about them, everything you've said." Aphrodite said calmly standing. "These realms, they are so much more." She said beginning to walk towards her.

"Lies!" Verdandi screamed enraged firing at Aphrodite with her magic but she blocked it with a force field. In her anger, her control over the House of Odin began to slip and she focused her energy on Aphrodite.

"And you're wrong about me.  _My_ fate.  _My_ destiny. Is the same as everyone else's, it's  _mine_ to control." Aphrodite used her force field to send Verdandi flying back. One by one Odin, Frigga, Thor and finally Loki sat up panting and watching what was happening.

"These realms are not worthy of you." She pleaded. "They do not deserve your protection."

"It's not about what they deserve. They're owed the right to their own destiny."

"Then I will destroy you!" Verdandi bellowed as she summoned all the energy she could and shot it at Aphrodite who block it once again with a force field. Verdandi was so powerful though that Aphrodite began sliding back while trying to withhold the force field.

Aphrodite glanced back at her family who were in various stages of recovering as they looked back at her.

 _"Let go, Aphrodite."_ She suddenly heard Odin's voice.

 _"It's time."_ Frigga said next.  _"Let go, you're ready. Let go!"_

Aphrodite release the force field with a scream and Verdandi flew back once again at the force behind it.

"I know who I am." Aphrodite said walking forward. "I am Aphrodite daughter of Odin and Frigga," she blocked another blast of power and her eyes flashed gold. "I am fire! And life incarnate!" she rose up and Verdandi watched in awe as her eyes turned gold and golf power shimmered around her. "Now and forever - I am the PHOENIX!" Aphrodite spread her arms out and the power within her burst forth and shot down through Verdandi who was helpless to do anything and with each burst of power her being disintegrated until finally she exploded in a mass of ugly black smoke that quickly dissipated.

Gracefully Aphrodite landed and turned to face her family. Shocked though she may be, Frigga didn't hesitate to move forward and Aphrodite didn't hesitate to meet her halfway letting her mother envelope her in a tight hug.

"So well," Frigga was muttering in her ear, "You did so well darling."

Slowly the Asgardians that were hiding in various places throughout the city came out of their places to see the carnage that remained, instead they were shocked to see the fierce group hug that Loki, Thor and Aphrodite were locked in. though they broke apart as the Allfather approach it was easy to see that it was entirely reluctant.

"Father," Aphrodite said but Odin held up his hand to silence her.

"Well done, my child." Aphrodite smiled and said nothing else and she hugged her father next.

* * *

Days later, as Asgard was in the process of rebuilding, the citizens were nearly overflowing as they gathered in the throne room eagerly watching as Odin addressed his only daughter at the events that had recently transpired.

The sound of Gungnir hitting the golden floor immediately silenced the room.

"Aphrodite Odindottir, in the light of recent events you have proven yourself to be not only worthy of the title of a Warrior of Asgard but as a protector of these realms as well." Aphrodite bit back a smile and glance over to one side of the stairs leading to the throne where the Warriors Three along with Lady Sif were standing, then to the other side were Thor, Frigga and Loki were. All giving bright smiles of encouragement.

"And had the legendary Valkyrior still been alive, I would dare say that you would make a fine member of their fleet. No matter," Odin stood from his throne and descended the steps until her stood just before where Aphrodite was bowed on one knee. "Aphrodite, my" he hesitated for a spilt second "my first and only daughter, you shall hence forth and forever be known as Aphrodite Odindottir, Goddess of Destiny." He banged his staff against the floor once again and the hall broke out in raucous applause, she also heard a few whistles that could only have come from either Thor or Frandral.

"Rise, my Phoenix."

This time she did smile and stood then turned to face the citizens of Asgard letting their emotions flow through her as her eyes glowed gold again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go, final chapter discussing solely Aphrodite's backstory. Now we finally get into MCU territory, starting with Thor.
> 
> Which I'm happy to announce the first chapter will be posted a week from today.
> 
> As always let me know what think and if there's anything you'd like to see in the future.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Officially beginning the first Thor movie, therefore entering the MCU.

_"Only one of you can ascend to the throne. Both of you were born to be king."_

* * *

 

It seemed as it Odin had only just spoken those words when in reality it had been decades, now many years later Loki and Thor stood outside the throne room of Asgard just moments before the coronation of the soon-to-be king, reminiscing of battle past.

"Some do battle other just do tricks." Thor said laughing.

"Well," Loki shrugged then glared at the male servant who was also chuckling slightly, and watched as the wine that was balanced on the try in his hands shimmered then out from out slithered a few snakes causing the servant to drop the try in fear.

"Loki," Thor whined. "Now that's just a waste of perfectly good wine." He said looking down at the snakes.

Loki simply smiled knowing that the snakes weren't at the call of his magic but also knowing exactly who conjured them.

"Not by my doing brother." Loki said and he and Thor shared a knowing look.

"Oh it's just a bit of fun boys." Aphrodite said as she approached and settled between them. "Right my friend?" She asked the servant who looked on fearfully then nodded shakily, before she waved a hand and made the snakes disappear. The servant quickly picked up his tray and left Aphrodite with her brothers still shaking with laughter on either side of her.

"Aphrodite," Thor said gaining her attention. "Sister, you look radiant." Thor said to her referring to her [blue and gold battle armour](https://www.polyvore.com/aphrodite_battle_armour/set?id=183092259) that she donned with pride each time she put it on.

"Thank you. And you look  _almost_ ready for a throne." When Thor gave her a look she held out her hand and waved the other over it making his silver helmet appear to match his silver and red battle armour. Which he took with a grateful smile.

"Oh, nice feathers." Loki taunted.

"Be nice." Aphrodite admonished.

"You don't really want to start this again do you? Cow?" Thor shot back referring to Loki's own helmet which curved up at the top to look like horns to go with his own green and gold battle armour.

"I was being sincere."

"You are incapable of sincerity."

"Boys!" Aphrodite cut between the two before their playful jests got to out of hand.

"I've looked forwards to this day as long as you have." Loki said to Thor. "My brother and my friend. Sometimes I am envious, but never doubt that I love you."

Thor smiled and cupped the back of Loki's head. "Thank you."

"Now give us a kiss." Loki teased relaxing the slightly serious atmosphere.

"Stop it." Thor said laughing.

"It's time." Aphrodite said to them both. She stepped up to Thor and placed a light kiss on his cheek. "You'll make a fine king. I love you."

"And I you." Thor said to her.

She then turned to Loki who offered his arm which she accepted and he began to lead her into the throne room.

"Are you going to be alright?” Aphrodite questioned Loki knowing that he was looking forward to this day just as much as he was dreading it.

“Always.” Loki said smiling in a way that would look sincere to anyone else but Aphrodite could recognize that deviousness anywhere, but before she could question him the doors to the great hall opened

* * *

Asgard was awaiting the arrival of their future King. Odin was sitting on his throne with his staff in hand. Down the steps to his this throne stood his queen Frigga, his son Loki and next to Loki stood his only daughter, Aphrodite. On the opposite side of the steps stood the warriors three: Fandral, Hogun and Volstagg, along with the dark haired female warrior named Sif.

After a few moments of waiting Thor arrived in the throne room, wielding his legendary hammer. Thor took a deep breath and scanned the room before him, if he was nervous he didn't let it show as he smiled a confident almost arrogant smile, then raised his hammer much to the elation of the kingdom. Thor walked down the aisle of the throne room, and feeling the need to show off flipped his hammer and caught it without a problem.

His actions caused his sister to roll her eyes. "Oh please." She mumbled loud enough for only Loki to her who managed a small smile.

Thor stopped before the steps of the throne and kneeled before the king and his father Odin. He turned his eyes to his mother and gave her a wink to which Frigga stiffened then shook her head slightly then Thor turned his gaze to the other side and smiled at his warrior friends, which they returned.

Odin stood from his throne and banged his staff once silencing the crowd. His gaze settled upon his oldest son then began his speech, "Thor, Odinson. My heir, my first born. So long and trusted were thee with the mighty hammer Mjolnir. Forged in the heart of a dying star, its power has no equal. As a weapon to destroy, or as a tool to build. It is a fit companion for a king. I defended Asgard at the lives of the innocent across the nine realms. . ."

* * *

 

Meanwhile below the castle of Asgard a pair of guards were doing their daily duty, checking the weapons vault. They walked down the hallway towards the Casket of Winters. But what they didn't realize was that there was something hiding behind one of the artefacts. Its powers slowly freezing the pillar without the guards noticing.

* * *

 

"Do you swear to guard the Nine Realms?" Odin asked.

"I swear." Thor answered.

"Do you swear to preserve peace?"

"I swear." Thor repeated raising his voice.

"Do you swear to cast aside all selfish ambition and pledge yourself only to the good of all the realms?"

"I swear!" Thor said proudly raising his hammer.

"Then on this day, I, Odin all-father proclaim you," Odin pause and everyone in the throne room stared at him expecting him to finish, but Odin only looked to the skies and he knew something was wrong. "Frost Giants." Everyone in the room froze, then Odin banged his staff once.

* * *

 

In the now frosted weapons vault three frost giants attacked the two guards, they stood in front of the one weapon they had come to claim, the Casket of Winters.

But when Odin banged his staff he summoned the robot called the Destroyer that was kept in and guarded the weapons vault. The gate that kept the Destroyer concealed disappeared and the Frost Giants carrying the Casket turned hearing the loud footsteps, when his turned the Destroyer fired a blast of energy, then another and another getting rid of the Frost Giants in the vault.

Odin and his three children entered the weapons vault to find the halls covered with ice and the dead bodies of the guards on the ground. Odin led his three children to the end of the hallway where the Casket of Winters was safely resting on its pedestal.

"The Jotuns must pay for what they've done." Thor stated.

"They have paid." Odin said without turning away from the casket. "With their lives. The Destroyer did its work. The casket is safe, all is well."

"All is well?" Thor questioned his father. "They broke into the weapon's vault! If the Frost Giants had stolen one of these relic,"

"But they didn't." Odin interrupter.

"Well I want to know why!" Thor demanded angrily.

"I have a truce with Laufey, King of the Jotuns." Odin explained.

"He just broke your truce!" Thor pointed out. "They know you are vulnerable."

Odin finally turned away from the casket and looked to his first born. "What action would you take?" He asked Thor.

"March into Jotunheim as you once did." Thor answered with no hesitation. "Teach them a lesson. Break their spirits so they'll never dare cross our borders again."

"You are thinking only as a warrior." Odin stared calmly.

"This was an act of war." Thor argued.

"It was an act of few, doomed to fail."

"Look how far they got." Thor yelled gesturing to the vault.

Aphrodite and Loki stood watching their father and brother argue, the conversation was quickly heating up and Aphrodite wanted desperately to step in, but a look from Loki stopped her and instead she gripped his hand using him as an anchor. It wasn't their fight.

"We will find the breach in our defences, and it will be sealed." Odin stated.

"As King of Asgard," Thor began.

"But you're not King!" Odin shouted angrily. And Thor was taken aback by this. "Not yet." Odin added walking past his children.

Thor looked to his brother and sister with an expression that was a mixture of anger frustration and pain before storming out of the weapons vault after their father.

Aphrodite turn to face Loki but his simply shook his head before leading her out of the weapons vault and up to the dining hall.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got my first comment on AO3!!!!!
> 
> So exciting.
> 
> Shoutout to HellKat for the support

Thor, still enraged by the Frost Giants ruining his day, expressed his anger by flipping over the dining room table with a loud yell. He sat down on the steps and took deep calming breaths.

His younger siblings stepped out from behind a pillar and began walking toward him. Thor noticed their presence but continued staring ahead.

"It is unwise to be in my company." Thor tried to warn them but they both ignored him, Loki sitting down next to him and Aphrodite in the middle but just behind them. "This was supposed to be my day of triumph." Thor said.

"It will come." Aphrodite assured him softly. "In time." She said placing a hand on his large shoulder.

Sif and the Warriors Three then entered the room, and Volstagg immediately took notice of the overturned table of rather the food that was strewn across the floor. "What's this?" He asked shocked.

Ignoring them for the time being Loki spoke to his brother. "If it's any consolation, we think your right." Loki spoke in a hushed tone gesturing to himself and his sister. "About the Frost Giants about Laufey, about everything. If they found a way to penetrate Asgard's defences once, who's to say they won't do it again? This time with an army."

"Exactly." Thor exclaimed thankful someone agreed with him.

"There's nothing you can do without defying Father." Aphrodite added, Thor turned to glare at her but then his expression brightened and she recognized it immediately. "No." Aphrodite said shaking her head. "No, no, no, no. I know that look. Stop right there."

"It's the only way to ensure the safety of our borders." Thor defended.

"Thor it's madness." She said trying to convince him

"Madness," Volstagg asked becoming intrigued with the siblings' conversation. "What sort of madness?"

Thor cast a glance at his siblings then spoke to his friends. "We're going to Jotunheim." Thor announced and their friends stood shocked.

"What?" Fandral asked laughing in disbelief. "This isn't like a journey to Earth, where you summon a little lightning and thunder, and the mortals worship you as a God. This is Jotunheim." Fandral reminded him.

"My father fought his way into Jotunheim," Thor said. "Defeated their army's and took their casket. We'll just be looking for answers."

"It is forbidden." Sif said trying to talk sense into Thor.

Thor only laughed as he approached them. "My friends, have you forgotten all we have done together? Fandral, Hogun who led you into the most glorious battles?"

"You did." Hogun answered with a small smile.

"And Volstagg to delicacies so succulent you thought you died and gone to Valhalla?" Thor asked Volstagg who chuckled.

"You did."

"Yes." Thor said then turned to Sif. "And who proved all wrong who scoffed at the idea that the princess and a young maiden could be two of the fiercest warriors this realm has ever known."

"We did." Sif and Aphrodite announced proudly.

"True. But I supported both of you." Thor pointed out the spoke to everyone in the room once again. "My friends, we must do this. You're not going to let myself and my brother and sister take all the glory are you?"

"What?" Loki asked in shock looking up at him.

"You are coming with me aren't you?" Thor asked deflating a bit. Loki and Aphrodite shared a look.

"Yes of course, we wouldn't let out brother march into Jotunheim alone." Loki said standing next to Thor and patting him on the back then they both looked at Aphrodite who was still sitting on the steps.

Aphrodite sighed. "This is a terrible idea." She said but stood none the less, "but I'm with you."

"And I." Volstagg announced.

"And I." Fandral said hesitantly

"And I." Hogun said as well. "The Warriors Three. Fight together."

"I fear we'll live to regret this." Sif said agreeing then placing her fist over her heart and bowing before leaving along with the Warriors Three.

"If we're lucky." Thor laughed before the siblings left as well to prepare for the battle ahead.

* * *

After gathering their weapons and dressing in warmer battle ready armour, Thor, Loki, Aphrodite, Sif and the Warriors Three rode their horses across the Rainbow Bridge, going to the Bi-Frost. They were met with the dark-skinned, gold eyed and armoured gatekeeper Heimdall. He had the power to see and hear everything.

He most likely already knew what Thor and his friends were up to.

The warriors dismounted their horses and approached Heimdall, who was waiting for them, with his hands rested on his only weapon, a large gold sword.

Loki walked ahead of the group with a smirk. "Leave this to me." He said as he approached the great gatekeeper. "Good Heim-"

"You're not dressed warmly enough." Heimdall cut him off, pf course already knowing why there were they were there and not allowing himself to be deceived by the God of Mischief.

"I'm sorry?" Loki questioned with confusion.

"You think you can deceive me?"

Loki laughed. "You must be mistaken we-"

"Enough." Thor demanded of Loki who obeyed the would-be king. "Heimdall, may we pass?" He asked of the gatekeeper.

"Never has an enemy slipped my watch, until this day." Heimdall paused. "I wish to know how that happened."

"Then tell no one where we have gone, until we return." Thor commanded. "Understand?" Thor walked past Heimdall their friends following.

"What happened? Silver tongue turned to lead?" Volstagg asked of Loki as he passed him laughing.

"Come brother." Aphrodite said taking Loki's hand and leading him towards the observatory.

"Be warned," Heimdall began speaking to the group as he began activating the Bi-Frost. "It is my sworn oath to protect this realm as its gatekeeper. If your return threatens the safety of Asgard the Bi-Frost shall remain closed. And you will be left to die in the cold waste of Jotunheim."

"Couldn't you just leave the bridge open for us?" Volstagg questioned.

"Leaving the bridge open would unleash the full power of the Bi-Frost, destroying the realm of Jotunheim and you upon it."

Thor embraced the challenge with a prideful smile. "I have no plans to die today."

"None do." Heimdall responded then pushed his sword as the way in and the entire group was sucked inside the Bi-Frost and they travelled to the coldest of the nine realms, Jotunheim.

* * *

The warriors landed in the realm of Jotunheim. Their surroundings the complete opposite of Asgard. It was cold and dark with rocky mountains covered with snow and ice.

"We shouldn't be here." Hogun broke the tense silence.

"Let's move." Thor said ignoring the statement, leading his team across the ice.

Aside from their footsteps and the sounds of large falling rocks, the realm of Jotunheim was silent. The made it to the palace of Jotunheim but still no sign of Frost Giants.

"Where are they?" Sif questioned.

"Hiding," Thor replied. "As cowards always do."

"You've come a long way to die, Asgardians." A deep menacing voice echoed.

"I am Thor Odinson." Thor introduced himself proudly. "How did your people get into Asgard?"

There was a moment of silence before the voice spoke again.

"The House of Odin is full of traitors."

"Do not dishonour my father's name with your lies!" Thor spoke angrily lifting his hammer.

The owner of the voice finally appeared to them. With him dark-blue skin and red eyes, it was Laufey. King of the Frost Giants.

"Your father is a murderer and a thief!" Laufey yelled. "And why have you come here? To make peace?" Laufey questioned mockingly. "You long for battle, you crave it. You're nothing but a boy, trying to prove himself a man." As Laufey spoke more Frost Giants appear surrounding the Asgardians.

"This boy has grown tired of your mockery." Thor said.

Thor's friends and sibling's looked around in slight fear seeing the Frost Giant's arms turn into icy blades. Loki approached his brother trying to talk some sense into him.

"Thor, stop and think." Loki whispered. "Look around you. We're out numbered.

"Know your place brother." Thor snapped.

"You know not what your actions would unleash," Laufey spoke to Thor. "I do. Go now, while I still allow it." Laufey abandoned his throne and approached the princes with an angry look.

Aphrodite approached her bothers and laid a hand on Thor's shoulder. "We will accept," She said bowing her head to Laufey. "Your most gracious offer." Thor glared at his sister but she simply tugged on his arm. "Come brother."

Thor fixed his glare on Laufey who returned it, Thor wanted to stay and fight but knew that his brother and sister were right and reluctantly turned to leave.

"Run back home, little princess." That wasn't directed towards Aphrodite and Thor knew it as he stopped in his tracks.

"Damn." Loki cursed knowing this wasn't going to end well.

Thor smirked then swung his hammer at Laufey sending him crashing into the rocky wall.

"Next?" Thor asked, before he swung his hammer again, hitting another Frost Giant. Now the battle began. All the Frost Giants were attacking the Asgardians with their icy blades the Asgardians were using their weapons to fight back.

"At least make it a challenge for me!" Thor said, kicking another defeated Frost Giant on the side, after taking him down with his hammer. More Frost Giants appeared.

Thor was face-to-face with one, who roared loudly. Thor roared back, then swung his hammer at him. The Frost Giant grabbed his arm that was holding the hammer, before slammed his rocky head against Thor's. Instead of being in pain, Thor laughed.

The Frost Giant punched him in the stomach; Thor flew and rolled backwards. He looked up at Laufey and smiled.

"That's more I like it," Thor said with satisfaction.

Thor threw his hammer, hitting the Frost Giant's face. Thor reached his arm forward, making the hammer pause at mid-throw, before flying back to the owner's hand.

Sif was struggling to fight one giant, who knocked her down on the icy ground. Luckily for her, Hogun was there as her back up, and threw his knife at the giant.

Loki turned to see a Frost Giant running after him. He slowly backed up, but stopped when the realized that he's standing on the edge of the cliff. One more step, and he would fall to his death. However, there's this giant ready to attack. He could've died either way. The Frost Giant jumped towards Loki, but instead went through Loki's body, fall to his death. Being the God of Mischief, the real Loki was hiding behind the large rocks, but only used a projection of himself to fool the Frost Giant. He waved his hand making of himself disappear, then returned to battle.

Sif ran her sword through a Frost Giant's body. She turned only to see another threw a bunch of icicles from hitting her.

Aphrodite used her magic to blast the Frost Giant back, when he swung at her with his blade she changed the density of her body so that the blade went straight through her instead and stabbed him with her own knife when he turned back around.

Loki wasn't the only master of magic on this battlefield.

Volstagg was fighting a giant, only to have his under the giant's grip, receiving a frost bite. Volstagg cried out in pain as he bumped his head against the giant's, pushing the giant away from him. Volstagg took a look at his arm to see a huge ugly black mark that was smoking.

"Don't let them touch you!" Volstagg warned his friends.

One of the frost giants grabbed Loki's wrist, destroying his armour and contacting his bare pale skin. Somehow Loki didn't get a frost giant like Volstagg had. Instead, his arm turned icy blue.

Loki looked at his arm with widen eyes in disbelief. He and the giant looked at each other in confusion, then Loki killed his opponent. He turned his attention back to his now blue arm that slowly faded back to normal.

Meanwhile, Fandral was having a time of his life. He was laughing while fighting with his opponents with his sword. Annoyed by him, the giant knocked Fandral's sword off his grip then the giant's arm turned into an icy blade. Fandral quickly slid under him, getting his sword back. He turned around and cut off the giant's blade arm, then stabbed him in the chest killing him instantly.

Fandral turned back around immediately cried out in pain when an icicle went straight through his body.

Aphrodite, Loki, Sif, Hogun, and Volstagg turned their attention to Fandral's cry. They all knew that they had to return to Asgard now, and take Fandral to the healing room before it was too late. Loki threw a knife at the giant that was after Fandral before.

"Thor!" Aphrodite called to her brother and Volstagg and Hogun carefully helped Fandral from the spear.

"We must go!" Loki shouted but Thor wasn't having it.

"Then go!" Thor replied before throwing Mjolnir taking down a line of Frost Giants.

Laufey grew enraged by seeing his followers being so easily defeated, summoned a Frost Beast to take care of the Asgardians.

Volstagg hoisted Fandral upon his shoulder seeing the beast. "Run!" He shouted to his friends and they wasted no time in doing so, all except Thor.

"Thor!" Aphrodite tried to call back to her brother but he kept on fighting gleefully, Loki tugged her along with the rest of the group.

The Frost Beast was now fully released from its prison and roared loudly before chasing after the Asgardians.

The group made it to the edge of the cliff. "Heimdall! Open the bridge!" Volstagg cried as the group waited for the Bi-Frost to open and take them back to Asgard.

When suddenly the Frost Beast's paw appeared before them and it began crawling from beneath the cliff as the group backed away from it. The beast was about to attack the group when Thor flew in and straight through the back of the beast's mouth, the monster roared in pain before it died and fell from the cliff. Thor landed in front of his friends and turned to them with a smile only for it to drop as an even greater army of Frost Giants approached them.

The army charged but before they could attack the sound of thunder was heard then the bright light of the Bi-Frost shined and a horse appeared rearing back on its hind legs and sat atop it was none other than Odin himself.

Thor's face light up assuming that his father was here to help them finish the battle.

"Father, we'll finish them together!" Thor cried.

"Silence!" Odin hissed at his oldest son.

Laufey made a staircase so he could speak with Odin face-to-face.

"Allfather, you look weary." Laufey said.

"Laufey, end this now." Odin demanded.

"Your boy sought this out."

"You're right, these are the actions of a boy. Treat them as such. You and I can end this. Here, now. Before there's further bloodshed."

"We're beyond diplomacy now Allfather. He'll get what he came for, war and death."

"So be it." Behind his back Laufey turned his hand into a dagger but before he could use it Odin raised his sceptre blasting Laufey away and sucked himself and the Asgardians back into the Bi-Frost.

* * *

"Why did you bring us back?" Thor asked Odin when they returned to Asgard.

"You realized what you've done?" Odin replied with his own questions. "What you started?"

"I was protecting my home."

"You cannot even protect your friends! How can you hope to protect a kingdom?" Odin pulled out Heimdall's sword that activated the Bi-frost and tossed it to him. "Get him to the healing room. Now!" He told the Warrior's Three and Sif, who dragged Fandral off and Heimdall left the King and his children alone to return to his post.

"There won't be a kingdom to protect if you're afraid to act!" Thor argued. "The Jotuns must learn to fear me just as they once feared you."

"That's pride and vanity talking, not leadership. You've forgotten everything I've taught you. About a warrior's patience."

"While you wait here and be patient, the Nine Realms laugh at us. The old ways are done! You stand by giving speeches while Asgard falls."

"You're a Vain, Greedy, Cruel Boy!" Odin shouted.

"And you're an Old Man and a Fool!" Thor shouted in the same angry tone as his father.

There was a long paused as Odin's face fell listening to his son's harsh words. "Yes, I was a fool. To think you were ready."

Both Loki and Aphrodite stayed off to the side and out of the way of their argument, but after what was just said Aphrodite had to step in.

"Father-"

Odin turned to her and snarled while pointing his finger at her and she instantly froze where she was tight-lipped and Loki came up behind her and was about to rest both hands on her shoulders to try and calm her but stopped remembering what had happened on Jotunheim and instead only rested one hand on her and tried to comfort her as Odin turned back to Thor.

"Thor Odinson, you have betrayed the expressed command of your king. Through your arrogance and stupidity, you have opened these peaceful realms and innocent lives to the horror and desolation of war!"

Odin placed his sceptre into the Bi-Frost and activated it before stepping down to Thor, ripping the badges from his armour.

"You are unworthy of these realms!"

Loki wrapped his arm tight around his sister's waist to prevent her from trying to stop Odin as he ripped Thor's cape from his shoulders. "You are unworthy of your title. You are unworthy!" Odin looked at his son who looked to be on the verge of tears. "Of the loved ones you have betrayed."

Odin finished and Thor glanced heartbroken at his brother and sister. Odin returned to his sceptre that activated the Bi-Frost. "I now take from you your power!" He held out his hand and Mjolnir flew into his grasp. "In the name of my father," Odin pointed the hammer at Thor and it began stripping him or his armour. "And his father before. I Odin Allfather, Cast you out!"

Aphrodite finally broke free of Loki's hold and stepped forward perhaps to put a stop to what was coming but she was too late. The power of Odin and Mjolnir combined hit her on her side sending her tumbling into Thor and then they both fell through the open portal to all the realms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun, Dun, Dun. Cliffhangers. Don't we all love them. ;)
> 
> What do you guys think is going to happen next?
> 
> Will Aphrodite land on Midgard with Thor? Or will she perhaps be somewhere else? ;;))
> 
> As usual let me know what you think and what you'd like to see in the future.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shoutout to HellKat for the review and support.

Every time she had rode the Bifrost was always an exciting experience, one that always promised adventure on the other side. But not this time.

She was not riding the Bifrost by choice, therefore she was unprepared for the ride and was being tossed around, the bright beams for once disorienting instead of beautiful.

Hitting the ground was forceful, she felt the impact entirely but luckily not the pain. Coughing as she sat up and heard the thud of Thor landing nearby as the power of the Bifrost swirling around them began to die down.

“Oh, now you’ve done it.” Aphrodite coughed as she rolled over onto her knees.

“Me?” Thor questioned incredulously.

“Yes you.” Aphrodite growled as she stood and dusted herself off. “I told you going to Jotunheim was a horrible idea, and now look at what you’ve done! Look at where we are! We’re banished Thor!” she screamed at him as he stumbled to his feet staring up at the sky.

“Father!”

“All you had to do was listen to me! Just once! But you didn’t! You never listen to me!”

“Heimdall!”

“You’re still not listening?!” Aphrodite shrieked, and enraged the threw out a wave a magic at him intending to just knock him down but failed to see the bright lights of the metal beast and threw him into that instead.

Aphrodite gasped and moved to check on him when the sides of the beast opened and she panicked turning invisible instead.

"I think that was legally your fault!" Feminine voice called as three people exited the beast.

"Get the first aid kit!" Ordered another, a woman who leaned over the unconscious body of Thor, "do me a favour and don't be dead." She murmured to him. “Where did he come from?”

There was a deep gasp as Thor jerked awake and Aphrodite watched and breathed a sigh of relief that he as alright, if not a little disorientated, as he pulled himself to his feet with an angry groan.

“Are you alright?”

“Hammer!” Thor called to the sky.

“Yeah we can tell you’re hammered dude. It’s pretty obvious.” One of the women muttered.

“Sister?” Thor called looking around for her. “Aphrodite?!”

There were hurried words exchanged between the mortals as Thor called for Mjolnir. Their attention had been shifted to the markings Odin's magic had left upon the soil.

“Jane we need to take him to this hospital.” The man said.

"Father!"

“He’s fine, look at him.” The woman, Jane, commented.

"Heimdall! I know you can hear me! Open the Bifrost!" Aphrodite knew it was absurd but still she looked to the sky and hoped.

“Hospital, you go I’ll stay.” Jane commented.

"What realm is this?" Thor demanded as he turned once again, to the three mortals. "Alfheim? Northeim?"

"New Mexico." The other woman answered, holding a strange object out in front of her protectively, Aphrodite heard the tension in her voice. In fact she could feel the confusion and distress coming from all of them, Thor’s most of all since she was so familiar with him. All their thoughts a chaotic swirl in her mind.

Thor glared at the object then snarled, "You dare threaten me, Thor, with so puny a weap-" Aphrodite flinched and gasped quickly covering her mouth as she watched in horror as Thor was struck by the strange object. He shuddered and fell, instantly, to the ground.

“What? He was freaking me out.” The woman defended.

Aphrodite watched as they struggled to drag Thor’s body over to the metal beast. She knew that she should help her brother, but truth be told she was frozen with shock and confusion. Had these small beings truly taken down the mighty Thor with that puny weapon?

Before she could decide to move to help Thor the other three people had gotten into the beast and left inside of it with surprising speed.

Aphrodite looked around the seemingly barren land and wondered where the beings where taking Thor, there didn’t seem to be any sort of civilization on this realm from what she could see of it.

 _New Mexico?_ She thought to herself, that was certainly not a named known by any of the nine realms. The beings though did appear to be mortal, could it be that they were in Midgard?

Aphrodite looked to the sky, _one moon,_ she thought to herself. A realm with a single moon narrowed her choice considerably.

With a sigh, Aphrodite start walking in the direction that the beast had disappeared to and hoped she would come across Thor and they could figure out how they were getting home.

* * *

 

Loki stood shocked staring at the Bifrost as it deactivated.

He was gone.

She was gone.

Thor and Aphrodite were both gone. And he couldn’t believe it.

Wearily, Odin stepped down from Heimdall’s post and began to take his leave, clearly none the wiser that not only was Thor no longer with them but Aphrodite as well.

He watched it happen, felt it as Aphrodite tore herself from his grasp to protect Thor, but she failed. And he’d failed her.

He had promised to always protect her and he failed.

Loki reflexively flexed his left hand as he recalled what had transpired on Jotunheim mere moments ago. The thoughts raced through his mind so fast they almost became blurred.

How was it possible that a Jotun had touched him and not only was he not burned, but his skin had turned blue. Blue like the Jotuns themselves.

He clenched that hand into a fist them turned on his heel and began striding back to the palace in search of answers.

Though he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted them.

* * *

 

Aphrodite walked and walked until the sun started to rise in the east and she saw buildings in the distance, now absolutely certain that she was in Midgard. Though that didn’t help her in figuring out where exactly Thor was.

In the midst of her thought’s Aphrodite noticed another one of the metal beasts heading in her direction, smaller than the one Thor had ended up inside last night, but still no less strange looking.

The beast stopped behind her and she turned to face it as either side it popped open. The faces of two elderly stared back at her.

“Are you alright dear?” the woman asked concerned taking in Aphrodite’s strange clothing and the fact that she was quite dusty from walking in the desert. “My word, look at you.” The woman said coming around the beast and moving quickly towards her, to which Aphrodite took a step back. “Oh, sweetheart it’s okay. I just wanna talk to you. My name is Annabeth, what’s yours?”

“Aphrodite.”

“Well that is a beautiful name.” Annabeth said smiling in a comforting was. “Are you lost sweetheart?”

“Yes,” Aphrodite nodded. “I’m a very long way from home.”

Annabeth sighed. “Well, did you travel with someone maybe?”

“My brother.”

“Alright then, and where is he?”

“Hospital?” Aphrodite responded unsure if that was the word she’d heard the mortals use the night before.

“Oh, well why don’t you come with us, and we’ll get you all cleaned up then we’ll help you find your brother. How’s that sound?” she asked still with that smile to which Aphrodite nodded. “Alright, so why don’t you come with me.” She said stepping forward and placing her arm around Aphrodite’s back. “C’mon, it’s okay.” She led Aphrodite towards the beast and urged her to get inside of it.

“We taking in strays know?” the man questioned from the front.

“Zip it Harold.” Annabeth said settling in beside Aphrodite. “Ignore my husband please, he doesn’t have a filter between his mouth and his brain.” Aphrodite nodded again and let the kind couple take her to their home.

The old couple’s home small, that much was obvious. But it was comfortable, the framed pictures that hung on the wall, the well-worn couches and chairs made it clear that they’d been here for quite some time and they weren’t leaving anytime soon.

“This way dear,” Annabeth said once again leaving Aphrodite through the house, “washroom’s right through here.”

Aphrodite stopped, however in front of the fish tank in their home.

“That’s Willy and Tobey, we’ve had them for some time now, they only ever come out at night though so don’t be offended that they ain’t bothering to say hi.” Harold spoke with a grunt as he settled into a chair and kicked his feet up.

Aphrodite stared at the tank, and at the fish hidden in the fake cave, for a beat then she spoke, “They don’t like this bright light.” She then reached up to the light hanging above the tank and flicked it off.

“Well look at that,” Annabeth said astonished as the two fish came out and swam around. “Thank you.” She said sincerely but Aphrodite could see the question in her eyes. “Let’s get you cleaned up.” She began leading Aphrodite once more through the house. “You can go on in there. I’ll see if I can find something for you to wear.” Aphrodite nodded and entered the bathroom.

Wetting a cloth she began lightly dabbing away at the dirt and dust that covered her skin.

“Aphrodite?” came a knock at the door. “There are some of my daughter’s old clothes, something in there ought to fit you.” Annabeth said handing her a bundle.

“Thank you.”

“I will send a message to Heimdall to allow Aphrodite use of the Bifrost so that she may return home.” Odin said to his wife upon her entrance to their chambers. “It was never my intention to send her to Midgard as well.”

“Odin please,” Frigga said pleading, “I beg of you, let Thor return with her. Surely he has learned his lesson.”

“I cannot do that.”

“My King, you cannot prolong your sleep any longer, not more than ever you need-”

“I need to do what is right to protect my kingdom.” Odin said cutting her off. “The nine realms are on the brink of war and this is due to his actions.”

“And so you abandon him as punishment?” Frigga said nearly on the verge of tears. She was almost ready to journey to Midgard and bring Thor home herself.

“Abandon?” Odin repeated. “I would never abandon a one of my children, I will watch over Thor on Midgard until its last dying star if that’s how long it takes for him to learn his lesson.”

Frigga relented and let out a deep sigh as Odin pulled her closer. “You _will_ watch over him?”

“Until my last breath.” He promised.

“Then bring my daughter home.”

Odin smiled as was about to reply when he suddenly froze, “Loki,” he breathed out. “He’s in the weapon’s vault.”

Frigga froze in horror as well. “Odin-”

“Stay here,” he said moving towards to door. “He knows.”

After changing into the clothes that were given to her, Aphrodite sat down on the closed toilet seat then closed her eyes and channelled all of her power into reaching Asgard through her mind.

What she saw nearly made her wish she hadn’t.

* * *

"You are my son." Aphrodite heard Odin speak as she was invisible to their eyes. He and Loki were in the weapons vault.

Loki turned around and Aphrodite had to cover her mouth the stifle the gasp that escaped upon seeing her brother with dark blue skin and red eyes. He looked like a Frost Giant. "What more than that?" he asked as his skin faded back to its normal colour. "The casket." Loki spoke softly as she began to put the pieces together. "It wasn't the only thing you took from Jotunheim that day. Was it?"

"No." The Allfather answered his eyes Loki onto Loki's who now stood in front of the stairs. "In the aftermath of the battle I went into the temple and found a baby." The Allfather explained. "Small for a Giant's offspring. Cold, suffering and left to die. Laufey's son."

"Laufey's son?" Loki repeated.

"Yes."

"Why?" Loki questioned. "You were knee deep in Jotun blood. Why would you take me?"

"You were just a child."

"No. You took me for a purpose, what was it?" He probed. "Tell me!" Loki's desperate shout made her jump and tears to spring.

"I thought we could unite out kingdoms one day, bring about an alliance. Bring about a realm of peace. Through you." Odin explained and Loki looked crushed. "But those plans no longer matter."

"So I am no more than just another relic. Locked away until you must have use of me." Loki concluded.

"Why do you twist my words?"

"You could have told me what I was from the beginning, why didn't you?"

"You are my son, and I wanted only to protect you from the truth." Odin defended.

"What, because I'm the monster that parents tell their children about at night."

Odin grew more weary. "No." He forced out he lowered himself to sit on the stairs.

"You know it all makes sense now. Why you favoured Thor over me all these years." Loki continued to rant not noticing his father growing weaker, and Aphrodite felt tears run down as she could do nothing but watch and listen as Loki’s words became more and more venomous "Because no matter how much you claim to love me. You could never have a Frost Giant sitting on the throne of Asgard."

That did it for Odin and as his eyes closed and his hand dropped on then did Loki notice what was happening and Aphrodite was violently pulled from the trance. And covered her mouth with her hands as she wept.

Wept at the knowledge of Loki’s true birth. Wept at the fate of her father and not knowing what exactly had happened to him. Wept that she was now stranded on Midgard with no way of returning home and no idea where Thor was.

“Aphrodite?” the knock on the door made her jump. “Are you alright?”

“Yes,” Aphrodite said then cleared her throat, “Yes I’m fine.” She said then stood and wiped her face clean of tears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will probably we the last update for at least the next week or so. As of right now my schedule is pretty busy, but I wanted to put something out there for you all.
> 
> As always let me know what you think and what you'd like to see in the future.
> 
> How do you think Aphrodite should be introduced to SHIELD, Clint Coulson Etc.? Anything in particular you's like to see happen there?
> 
> Let me know.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm Back

When Aphrodite arrived at the hospital finally, the young lady that was there informed her along with Annabeth that there was a man by the name of Thor was here last night, but left early this morning after destroying one of their rooms.

After thanking the lady Annabeth led Aphrodite out of the hospital and into the car that Harold was waiting in.

“He’s not here.” Annabeth informed her husband before turning to face Aphrodite. “Do have any other place in mind where he may be dear?”

“I don’t know.” Aphrodite sighed frustrated.

“Well, why don’t we go get something to eat? Them maybe we can ask around, see if anyone’s seen him. This town isn’t all that big. How’s that sound?”

“Sounds like a wonderful idea.”

Annabeth nodded and then turned around in her seat as Harold drove away from the hospital. The couple made idle chat and he drove until suddenly the car came to a screeching halt.

“Get out of the road!” Harold yelled honking his horn causing Aphrodite to glance up. “Idiot.” Harold mumbled as he pulled around the man standing in the middle of the road.

“Stop!” Aphrodite yelled and Harold immediately slammed on brakes again.

“What’s wrong?” Annabeth questioned.

“It’s him.” Aphrodite said as she flung the door open and climbed out. “Thor!” She called out loudly and the man in question turned around confused but a smile quickly lit up his face and he caught sight of her.

“Aphrodite.” At the sound of his voice Aphrodite let a sigh of relief and dashed over to him letting him engulf her in his large arms. “It’s good to see you sister.”

“It’s good to see you too.” Aphrodite said pulling away. “Where have you been? I searched everywhere I could for you.”

“I was with friends, but not anymore. They choose not to accompany me on my journey to retrieve Mjolnir.”

“Your hammer’s here?”

“Indeed, fifty miles west of here.”

“That’s wond-” Aphrodite was cut off by a meek voice.

“Um, Aphrodite.” Aphrodite glanced over to see both Harold and Annabeth standing outside of the car watching on curiously.

“Give me a moment.” She said to Thor.

“Of course.” Thor said then continued on into the store he was entering before Aphrodite found him.

“So that’s your brother?” Harold said nodding to where Thor just was.

“Yes.” Aphrodite answered. “Thank you both, so much for your help.”

“It was no problem. I hope you two find your way home safely.” Annabeth said sincerely.

“Thank you. And I assure you both that destiny has wonderful plans for you.”

“Well uh, thank you.” Annabeth responded a little unsurely.

“Travel safe.” Aphrodite said finally then nodded once in Harold’s direction before sharing one last smile with Annabeth then turning to meet Thor as he exited the shop.

He was about to inform her of the lack of horses in this realm when a different voice cut him off.

“Hey!” A petite brunette yelled leaning out of the window of a large van and they both looked over. “Still need a ride?” Thor grinned and tugged Aphrodite along as he approached the van. “Who’s that?” the woman questioned as Thor opened the backseat and helped Aphrodite in.

“Jane Foster, I’d like you to meet Aphrodite Odindottir, my sister. Sister, Jane Foster.” Thor introduced.

“Pleasure.” Aphrodite said nodding kindly.

“Nice to meet you too.” Jane said as Thor settled himself into the passenger’s seat.

"I've never done anything like this before." Jane admitted with a nervous smile, "Have either of you ever done anything like this before?" she asked anxiously glancing over at Thor then at the rear-view mirror where Aphrodite was lounging in the backseat.

"Many times." Aphrodite responded with a smirk.

"But you're brave to do it, Jane." Thor added.

“Well they just stole my entire life’s work, I don’t really have much left to lose.” Jane spat.

“But you’re clever.” Thor said.

“Thanks.”

"Far more clever than anyone else in this Realm," Thor complimented.

"Realm?” Jane repeated the word that no normal person would ever use. “Realm?" She said again with a laugh.

"You think me strange?" Thor asked, curiously with a small smile.

"Yeah, I do." Jane said politely.

"Am I good strange or bad strange?" he asked curiously.

“I haven’t decided yet.” Jane said bashfully looking over at Thor.

“Road.” Aphrodite deadpanned and Jane gasped and quickly righted the van as it veered off the road when she got distracted by Thor. The two in the front seats laughed before Jane apologized then asked softly.

“Who are you? Really?”

“You’ll see soon enough.” Thor responded smirking slightly.

“You promised me answers.” Jane snapped.

Thor paused, "What you seek... it's a bridge."

"Like an Einstein-Rosen Bridge?" Jane asked curiously.

"More like a Rainbow Bridge." Thor corrected.

Jane paused, not entirely sure how to respond to that. She faced the road and mumbled, "God, I hope you're not crazy."

* * *

 

"That's no satellite crash," Jane whispered to the siblings looking through a pair of binoculars as they crouched low on a ridge just beyond where the hammer was. "They would've hauled the wreckage away, not built a city around it."

"Here." Thor said, removing his jacket and placing it on Jane's body. "You're going to need this."

"Wait, what?" Jane looked over her shoulder at Thor questionably. "Why?" Jane asked. Her question was answered thunder roared in the sky. She became even more confused as Thor smiled widely at the sound

"Stay here." Thor instructed her. "Once I have the Mjolnir, I will return what they stole from you. Deal?"

"No!” Jane said sternly pointing down at the site. “Look what's down there! You can't just walk in grab our stuff, and walk out!"

“Well of course not.” Aphrodite said making Jane look at her with relief that someone was agreeing with her. “He’s going to fly out.” Aphrodite finished and Jane’s relief was cut short and could only watch as they both stood and hurried down the ridge and he quickly picked up her binoculars to see what was about to happen.

* * *

 

As they grew closer to the compound they decided it would be best if they split up, so after crawling underneath the fence, Thor went in one direction, Aphrodite in the other promising to meet up at Mjolnir.

As she entered the plastic covered tunnels an alarm began to wail loudly and she guessed that Thor must have gotten caught. There were people dressed in black running past her, probably heading towards where Thor was, trying to stop him, none of them seemed to notice, or care, that she was an unfamiliar face.

That was until, "Excuse me miss." A voice said from behind and Aphrodite picked up her pace slightly. "Excuse me, miss. You can't be in here."

A hand grabbed her shoulder and whether it was an act of aggression or not, Aphrodite reacted grabbing the arm and pushing her weight back so that he went flying over and landing on his back.

Another came at her ready to swing but Aphrodite ducked grabbing his arm and twisting it behind his back using his as a human shield to take the shot from the weapon that was meant for her, after she saw the red beam dancing across her body. The shot from the weapon was the same one that Thor was shot with when they first landed on Midgard, clearly it had the same effect, she thought as she dropped the convulsing man, to send a high roundhouse kick knocking the weapon from the third man's hand, than a reverse roundhouse, knocking him out.

 _"Sir there are two intruders on the grounds. I repeat two intruders."_ A fourth man said speaking into a device the Aphrodite couldn't name, nor had time to and she grabbed the discarded electrifying weapon quickly tossing it and as it hit the man in the face she followed it with a strong backhand and before he hit the ground, she was gone, this time running.

She encountered a few more men dressed in black and took them down with relative ease before figuring out which way Thor had passed, seeing the trail of bodies he left.

Aphrodite approached Mjolnir but Thor wasn't anywhere near it, that is until she heard the sounds of a scuffle and turned to see a hole in the plastic and just outside, in the rain, was Thor rolling around in the mud with a rather large man.

Aphrodite approached just as Thor jumped placing both feet in the man's chest kicking him away, they both hit the ground and as the large man began to get up she sent a high kick catching him just under his chin then dropped into a crouch, spinning on her heel knocking his feet from under him and as he dropped to his knees Thor came and kneed him in the face knocking him out.

"I had that sorted." Thor said as he began to approach the plastic containment around Mjolnir once again.

"Yeah, I figured."

 _"You better call it Coulson, cause' I'm starting to root for these two."_ Aphrodite ‘s hearing picked up a voice say and looked up to see a man high above them with an arrow aimed down towards the two. She didn't hear any sort of response so figured whoever 'Coulson' was told him to stand down.

Aphrodite was pulled from her thoughts when she heard Thor grunt as he pulled the plastic back and approached Mjolnir. She watched him circle the mighty hammer already smiling.

 _"Last chance sir."_ She heard the man's voice again but this time paid him no mind as Thor reached out and gripped the handle or Mjolnir and pulled.

But nothing happened, he couldn't lift it. Aphrodite felt her heart break for her brother as he grabbed the hammer with both hands and pulled but still, nothing. The hammer didn't budge.

Thor wasn't worthy.

He pulled with all his strength, but still, nothing. Her heart completely shattered when Thor released the hammer and let out a loud cry towards the sky, filled with anguish that was no doubt directed at Odin for doing this to him.

Thor dropped to his knees and Aphrodite was too numb to attempt to comfort him, and did nothing as more men dressed in black approached placing them both in handcuffs before dragging them away.

* * *

 

They were taken to a room and sat in two chairs then a man, who identified himself as Agent Coulson came in and began speaking.

"You two made, my men. Some of the most highly trained professionals in the world look like a bunch of minimum wage mall cops." Coulson spoke to them. "That's hurtful. In my experience, it takes people who've received similar training to do what you both did tonight. So why don't you tell me where you received your training. Pakistan? Afghanistan? No you strike me more as the soldier’s of fortune type. Where was it? South Africa? Certain groups, pay good money for good mercenaries, like you."

Thor kept his eyes on the floor and Aphrodite kept her eyes on him, wanting nothing more than to take away his pain as Coulson continued to talk. "Who are you? Sooner or later we find out what we need to know, we're good at that." There was a beeping sound and Coulson checked a device in his pocket. "Don't go anywhere." He spoke to the two of them before leaving the room.

Coulson returned a few moments later and Thor spoke softly for the first time. "Goodbye." He said.

Aphrodite faced him confused. "Thor?" She questioned softly seeing the single tear rolling down his cheek.

"Goodbye?" Coulson asked. "I just got back."

Agent Coulson continued to question them before he was once again interrupted this time by a man sticking his head in the room and telling him that the sibling's had a visitor.

* * *

 

A short while later another man entered the room. "Oh Donny, Donny, Donny." He greeted Thor dramatically. He approached Thor and made a move to help him from the chair but Aphrodite placed a hand on her brother's shoulder keeping him seated because she didn't know this man, and therefore didn't trust him.

"It's gonna' be alright, I'm taking you home now." The man gave Aphrodite a look and she took a small peak inside his mind before releasing Thor and letting the strange man pull up him from his chair and Thor reached back grabbing Aphrodite's hand pulling her along as well.

"Wait a minute." Coulson said approaching them. "She stays." He said gesturing to Aphrodite.

"What?"

"My sister leaves with me." Thor said straightening up and speaking boldly for the first time.

"Agent Coulson, I'm sure we can work something out." The strange man said.

"You came for your colleague Dr. Selvig, you have him. But you have no identification for her and she has yet to show up in our data bases, so until she does. She stay." Coulson said.

"Listen here-" Thor began but Aphrodite cut him off.

"Donald," She him by his alias and luckily he responded. "Its fine, you go on with, Erik,” Thor’s mind shouted at her. “And I will met up with you. As soon as I can." She gave him a look that he understood and he nodded. "Go."

* * *

 

Aphrodite was sat in the uncomfortable chair for at least 30 minutes before Coulson returned, she didn't even have to look inside his mind to know the truth.

"You know his names not Donald." She stated startling the agent because that was the first time she had spoken directly to him, but he quickly composed himself.

"Of course we do. I told you, we're good like that." Coulson responded.

"So why the charades?"

"Because games are fun. And you," he continued. "You seem to be a master at them."

Aphrodite didn't respond and watched as Coulson reached for a device clipped to his belt. "Barton report." Moments later a man stood in the doorway and she recognized him as the one who had his arrow pointed down at her and Thor earlier.

"Agent Barton, would you kindly escort our newest resident to her room, please." Agent Barton nodded and gestured for Aphrodite to stand before leading her from the room and along the identical brightly lit hallways.

"Home sweet home." He remarked when they arrived at her room for the night, the first thing he had said to her during the otherwise silent journey.

The room that they had provided her with was nothing special, and absolutely nothing like her room back in Asgard, but it seemed isolated and it had a bed, that's was all she cared for.

"By the way," Barton called from the doorway as he turned to leave. "Don't get any ideas about running. Because I'd hate to have to shoot you." He said before leaving and closing the door behind him.

Aphrodite sigh and sat down on the bed the closed her eyes and focused on finding Thor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s been literally a month but I’m back. This last month was basically hell for me. My mental state was basically a glass pane that shattered horribly one day last month and I’m still picking up the pieces.
> 
> But hopefully I can get back to somewhat of an updating schedule and back into the groove of things.
> 
> As always let me know what you think and what you’d like to see in the future.


	12. Chapter 12

Aphrodite sat on the ground in the room provided with her legs folded beneath her, on the bed behind her was a double sleeping. She was invisible to the camera's eye as chanted various incantations under her breath as she focused on finding Thor.

He was easy to track when he hand his hammer on him, which he always did, as the hammer gave off massive amounts of energy on its own.

Right now Thor's energy was like a dim light, barely there, but when you found it you needed to latch onto it quickly, and when she did she breached his mind so she could speak with him without the lady that was with him hearing or seeing them.

* * *

 When Aphrodite appeared in the desert where Thor was, with the same petite woman form earlier, he had sense her presence in his mind but focused on covering Jane with a blanket to ward off the chill of the desert air, before he turned to speak with her.

"She's quite pretty." Aphrodite said in greeting, Thor looked up then smiled glancing back down at Jane.

"Yes, she is." Thor agreed not taking his eyes off the woman next to him.

"Thor," Aphrodite said bringing his attention to her. "Tell me what happened. In that room. What did you see? Or who?"

Thor sighed and gestured for Aphrodite to come closer, she went and sat in front of him as he launched into an explanation of Loki coming to see him and not letting him return home. As well as the fact that their father was dead.

"Brother," Aphrodite said wishing she could reach out and take his hand. "Loki is simply doing what any ruler in his positon would. Trying to uphold the Allfather's final command, you can't fault him for that." Thor nodded and wiped his tears away. "Besides you look like your making yourself quite comfortable here." She said nodding to Jane, and a soft smile came over his features. "Tell me how you met."

Thor smiled again and told his sister the story of how Jane hit him with her van. Twice.

* * *

 The next morning Agent Barton had come to collect her and had given her some fresh clothes and had led her through the facility and to the cafeteria, as breakfast was being served there.

On their way there Aphrodite couldn't ignore the glares she was receiving any longer.

"Why do I get the feeling that I'm not very well liked here?" Aphrodite asked the archer who glanced around and noticed the stares she was receiving.

"Yeah well when you drop a bunch of special ops on their asses without breaking a sweat. You gain a reputation." Agent Barton responded. Then glanced over at her to see her eyes trained on the ground as they walked. "Hey, you okay?

"We didn't intend to hurt anyone." She responded "Was anyone seriously injured?"

"Just a few mild concussions." Barton replied as he held the door open for her to enter the cafeteria. "You mostly hurt their pride."

"Sounds quite familiar." Aphrodite said as she cracked a small smile.

"Yeah well they should be more used to getting beat up by a woman. Nat was down here a few months ago. Talk about hurt pride."

"Who's Nat?" Aphrodite questioned.

"Sit down." He nodded to one of the tables then began to leave to get their food.

"Agent Barton," She called. "Do have a, real name? A first name perhaps?"

"Clint." He responded.

"Aphrodite." She informed him and could have sworn she saw the corner of his lip twitch the slightly.

* * *

 

After a small breakfast of eggs and bacon that could not compare in the slightest to the food served on Asgard she had learned a bit more about Clint as well as the organization he represented Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division otherwise known as SHIELD.

He was in the process of telling her about one of his most recent missions that he went on with his closest friend Natasha Romanoff the 'Nat' person he had mentioned earlier, when they were interrupted by Agent Coulson.

"Excuse me," He said as he approached the table carrying a file. "I don't mean to interrupted, but we need your input on somethings." He said as he sat down revealing various pictures of Mjolnir and also the markings on the ground from where they had landed in the Bifrost.

"Where did you get these?" She asked the Agent.

"I told you, we're good at finding out what we want. And right now, I need to know what you know. What is this?" He asked pointing to the Bifrost site.

"I'm afraid I cannot-" She began to try and explain but he cut her off.

"Look Aphrodite," She eyes widened by him calling her by her name. "I want to believe that you're not here to hurt anyone, you're brother too, and I wanna' trust both of you. But I can't do that unless you trust me."

"Everything in your world, is about to change." Aphrodite said seriously seeing nothing but the truth shining in the man's eyes.

Coulson was about to respond when another man in black interrupted. "Sir, they've got something." Coulson looked to her again then stood following the other agent.

Clint and Aphrodite shared a glance, then stood as well and went in the same direction.

"What the hell was that?" Aphrodite heard Coulson question as they entered the room.

"I don't know sir, we got massive energy readings out of nowhere then they just vanished."

While they spoke Aphrodite, looked at the screens surrounding and saw them all bearing images that had stark resemblance to the Bifrost.

"How far out?" Coulson's voice brought her back to reality.

"About fifteen mile due northwest."

"What is it?" Clint asked her seeing how she was staring at the screens.

"I don't know," Aphrodite responded. "I need to get to my brother." Aphrodite spoke to both Coulson and Clint.

"Alright, you," Coulson pointed to Clint who straightened. "With her, you," Coulson pointed to the man he was speaking with earlier. "With me, let's go check it out."

Clint ushered her out of the building and into one of the large black trucks on the property.

"Anything you wanna' tell me about whatever that thing was that just opened up?" Clint questioned as Aphrodite settled herself in passengers seat.

"Nothing that should call for too much alarm." She responded as he started the car and began driving.

After a while of driving back to the city Clint pulled up at the coordinates that Coulson had sent him, where Thor was staying with Jane Foster and friends.

"This is it." Clint said as they excited the vehicle.

"Then what are we waiting for." Aphrodite told him as she approached then entered the glass house without knocking. Clint followed closely then stopped once they were a ways in.

"Excuse me," The tiny brunette that was with Thor last night, Jane, approached her. "You can't just barge in here- Oh it's you." Jane said seeing who it was entering her house followed by a man dressed in all black.

"Sister!" Thor exclaimed upon seeing her then rushed over scooping her up in a hug relished the fact that see was actually here and not just an illusion. "You've been released then?" He asked once he set her on her own two feet.

"Not exactly, The Bifrost has been activated." She told him.

"Is she talking about the bridge?" Jane questioned from their side.

"Thor, Heimdall who not just let anyone through. Someone's here and I don't know who."

"I do." Clint voice said unsurely and then turned to face him and he pointed to the glass doors and too Aphrodite's shock there stood the Warriors Three and Sif who all wore proud smiles.

"Found you." Volstagg cried cheerfully as they all waved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter this week but the big battle is up next, so excited to write that. Or to re-write it?
> 
> As always let me know what you think and what you'd like to see in the future.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What?!? Two updates in one weekend.  
> A little treat for missing an update last week.  
> No copyright infringement is intended, all rights to their original owners.  
> Once again I suggest listening to Wonder Woman's theme song when reading this chapter. That song inspires so much of this story.  
> Enjoy!

Aphrodite vaguely registered the sound of glass breaking as she and Thor rushed to meet their friends as they entered the small house.

"My friends!" Thor cried as he embraced Volstagg, a wide grin stretched across Aphrodite's face as she embraced Sif, then Fandral who were nearest to her. "This is good, this is good" She heard Thor say.

"Excuse me." Volstagg began speaking to Jane and her two comrades. "Lady Sif and the Warriors Three."

"My friends, I have never been happier to see anyone, but you should not have come here." Thor said sadly.

"We're here to take you home." Fandral said as though it was obvious, which it was. So why did Thor not seem excited?

"You know I can't go home." Thor said.

"What?" Sif asked. "Why?"

"Our father," Thor began to explain. "He is dead because of me. I must remain in exile."

Sif's pretty features twisted into confusion. "Thor your father still lives. He's fallen into the Odinsleep."

"Hey," Clint said softly to Aphrodite then led her a few feet away for some semblance of privacy. "I'm supposed to report back to Coulson, but I'm not exactly sure what's going on here."

"Right." Aphrodite nodded. "I'm not sure how I can explain this to you and make it make sense." For the first time in a very long time Aphrodite was at a loss for words. She never could have imagined that explaining Asgard to a Midgardian would be this difficult. "I come- we come from the realm called Asgard. Thor and I are two children of Odin, Allfather. He ruled the Nine Realms, the king. With that being said I can show you better than I can tell you. So if you could refrain from reporting back to the Son of Coul just yet, I can give you real answer."

Clint nodded and seemed to be thinking it over. "So you're a princess?"

Aphrodite nodded. "Technically."

Whatever Clint was going to say next was cut off by the loud booming of thunder that didn't come from Thor. Everyone rushed to the open doors and found themselves staring up and a slowly forming tunnel in the sky that was descending towards earth. It suddenly shot down making a loud boom that caused several people to stop and stare.

"Was somebody else coming?" The woman who stood at the front of the group asked.

“That could only be one thing.” Aphrodite said and everyone turned to look at her. "It's the Destroyer." Thor's expression turned slightly fearful, while everyone, besides the Asgardian’s in the room watched as a gold layer covered Aphrodite’s body and melting away the clothes she’d been given replacing it with her armour.

"Jane," he said turning to the petite woman and drawing the attention back to him. "You have to leave."

"What are you gonna' do?" she asked him.

"I'm staying here."

"Thor's going to fight with us!" Volstagg cheered.

"My friends," Thor started walking closer to the warriors. "I am just a man. I'll only be in the way, or worse get one of you killed. But I can help get these people to safety."

"Well if you're staying then so am I." Jane suddenly declared boldly.

"We'll need some time." Thor said finally before walking away with Jane.

"You'll have it." Fandral said before he and the other Warriors went to deal with the Destroyer.

* * *

 

Aphrodite and Clint helped to clear the city, after helping a family into a truck Aphrodite watched as Sif tried to kill the Destroyer by stabbing it through its head with her double edged sword but the giant machine spun different the parts of its body around until, it's head was facing Sif, it shot a beam of fire at her but she jumped off just in time.

The Destroyer then began to set fire to everything in its path, Aphrodite was suddenly pulled to the side then to the ground as a car that was caught on fire flew overhead.

"Thanks." She said to Clint as she pulled herself up and he followed but they were soon knocked off balance again as the Destroyer shot at Sif and the Warriors Three sending them into a diner and Clint and Aphrodite flying in opposite directions.

She landed harshly on her back but sat up to see the Destroyer focused on Volstagg who still looked disoriented.

The Destroyer was about to fire at the diner again, no doubt killing the brave warrior when it was struck in the back of its massive head by a ball of energy.

It machine turned around and there stood Aphrodite, conjuring another ball and throwing it at the Destroyer again.

Enraged now the Destroyer struck the princess its talons digging into her flesh and sent her crashing into a building. It stalked her ready to finish the job, beginning to fire up its flames when it seemed to think twice instead shooting at the diner that the Warriors Three had already fled from.

"Sister," Thor was suddenly in her line of vision and Clint was at her side helping to pull her up. "You must return to Asgard with the others."

"No."

"Sister-"

"No."

"Aphrod-"

"No! I'm not going to leave without you."

Thor gripped the back of her neck, and his thumb stroked her cheek. "You must return and stop Loki. You are the only person he'll listen to."

Thor was right. "What about you?"

"Do not worry, sister. I have a plan." He then nodded to Clint who half carried Aphrodite to where the others stood, Sif quickly took hold of her other side helping to support her.

The marks left behind by the Destroyer had already begun to heal.

Everyone began to hurry back into the house when Jane called out. "Wait." Everyone immediately froze and turned to see Thor calmly walking up to the Destroyer. "What's he doing?" Jane Foster spoke what everyone was thinking.

Thor and the Destroyer were now within feet of each other and, by some miracle, it seemed the Destroyer had begun to power down and turned to leave, when suddenly it whipped its hand out and struck Thor sending him flying back and crashing on the ground not too far from where the group stood.

"No!" The scream ripped out from both Jane and Aphrodite but unlike the smaller woman who ran to Thor, Aphrodite flew out of the holds of both Clint and Sif and flew straight towards the Destroyer. The robot swatted her out of the air is if she was little more than a bug, the force that she landed with left a small crater in the ground. But blinded by sadness and rage Aphrodite just shook her head and flew back at it.

This time though the Destroyer opened up its face and shot a beam of fire but Aphrodite blocked it with her powers and the two met in the middle for a brief blinding moment. When they both released, Aphrodite heard the sound before anyone else, it was the familiar rumbling of thunder and she looked down to where Jane was being torn away from Thor’s body by Dr. Selvig, just in time before Mjolnir, soared straight into Thor's hand and bright flashes of lighting covered his body as he was once again cloaked in his battle armour.

The destroyer had frozen at the sound of lightening and the giant robot was shocked - if a robot could be such- that the son of Odin had been restored to full power.

The Destroyer geared up to fire again and the newly restored prince but Aphrodite dropped down in front of her brother and blocked the fire with a force field. She dropped it and smirked as Mjolnir flew past her and hit the robot before flying back and hitting it again then back to Thor’s waiting hand.

He swung his hammer then flew into a tornado that was created, where inside he spun his hammer to generate as much lightening as he could. Aphrodite floated just below the opening of the tornado letting her power overflow turning her eyes gold, when Thor struck the Destroyer with his lightening Aphrodite blasted it with her power as well and with their combined power the Destroyer exploded to pieces.

The blast blinded the few that were there to witness it and as the smoke cleared Thor and Aphrodite strode confidently away, the remains of the Destroyer behind them.

"Is this how you normally look?" Jane questioned in awe as they approached.

"More or less." Came Thor's smug response.

"It's a good look."

Thor just nodded in with a smile as Agent Coulson joined them.

"Excuse me!" Coulson called out as he approached. "I'm afraid you haven't been completely honest with me Mr. Blake."

"Know this Son of Coul, You and I, we fight for the same cause, the protection of this world. From this day forward you can count us as your ally's. If you return the items you have taken from Jane."

"Stolen!" Jane interjected.

"Borrowed," Coulson said with a shrug. "Of course you can have your equipment back," he said to Jane kindly. "You're going to need it to continue your research."

"Would you like to see the bridge we spoke of?" Thor asked Jane suddenly, the two of them looking at one another like nobody else was around. "Uh, sure," Jane replied calmly, but Aphrodite could tell that she was excited on the inside.

With that, Thor grabbed Jane around the waist and yanked her to his chest as he lifted Mjolnir to the sky and took off.

"Wait, we need to debrief you!" Coulson shouted, but they were already long gone. The agent sighed and pursed his lips before turning to face Aphrodite, Clint and the others that remained. Who were all dead silent, waiting to see what he would say. "Well," he finally said to Aphrodite, "Can you fly too?"

"Of course I can, but that won’t be how we’re getting there." Sif and the Warrior’s Three knew what was coming next and moved to stand on either side of Aphrodite.

"Agent Coulson." Aphrodite said shaking his hand. "Agent Barton. Thank you both. For all your help."

"Likewise." Coulson nodded then walked back to his black vehicle.

"Agent Barton."

"Clint."

"Clint." Aphrodite corrected. "Thank you, truly."

"Anytime," Clint nodded with a friendly smile. "And next time you're in town, gimme a call. But I could do without the giant killer robot."

"Of course." Aphrodite stepped forward and gently kissed his cheek. "Goodbye Clint." Clint nodded and took a few steps back.

“Would you like to see the bridge as well?” Aphrodite asked Dr. Selvig and Darcy who both nodded eagerly. She nodded for them to join her by her side and they quickly did, Taking Darcy’s hand in hers, then Frandral’s everyone else left followed suit. Though not without the confusion of Erik and Darcy. “Fair warning,” Aphrodite warned the two mortals, “This won’t feel pleasant.” She nodded once more to Clint, then with a sharp cracking sound the group disappeared in on themselves.

* * *

 

When they arrived at the site, Aphrodite expected the Bifrost to have already been opened and activated waiting for her, but when she got there Thor was shouting for Heimdall and the others stood all around confused, well Erik and Darcy wobbled on shaking legs confused as they felt the nauseating effects of first time teleportation..

"What's the matter?" Aphrodite asked her brother.

"It's Heimdall, he's not answering."

"He always answers." Aphrodite said as she joined Thor. "Heimdall! Heimdall please! We need you now!"

Moments later the Bifrost was activated and Sif and the Warriors Three quickly entered. Aphrodite shared a look with her brother then nodded understanding that he wanted to share a goodbye with Jane Foster, and entered the Bifrost. Thor joined moments later and the group was sucked through the Bifrost and back to Asgard.

"Get him to the healing room!" Thor ordered when they landed and saw Heimdall barely conscious on the steps, having used the last of his energy opening the Bifrost.

"Where are you going?" Aphrodite questioned seeing that Thor hadn't stopped running.

"To stop Loki!" Was Thor's response as he swung Mjolnir then took off.

Aphrodite shared a look with her friends then took off after him hoping that it wasn't too late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back to Asgard we go. What do you guys think will happen when Aphrodite and Thor face off against Loki?  
> As always let me know what you think, and what you'd like to see in the future.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shoutout and thanks to the anonymous person that commented. Glad you like the story.  
> As always I own nothing. Enjoy.

 

Aphrodite was only moments behind Thor as he entered Odin’s chamber and she caught the last bit of the conversation between he and Loki.

“You’re a talented liar brother.” She heard Thor say. “Always have been.”

“Glad to have you back,” was Loki’s response. “Now if you’ll excuse me. I have to go and destroy Jotunheim.” Then there was a blast and the crumbling of bricks.

“Loki.” Aphrodite called out as he rushed from the chambers.

“Sister,” He said slowly turning around, shock written all across his features. “You’re alive.”

“Why Loki?”

“Because I want father to see me as I truly am, and what I can be.” He said slowly, then raised Gungnir in her direction.

“I don’t want to fight you Loki.”

“Nor I you. Stand aside sister.”

She shook her head. “No.”

Loki clenched his jaw but fired Gungnir, Aphrodite blocked with a force field, like he know and hoped she would and when she brought it down Loki was gone.

* * *

 

Aphrodite had often mused what I may have been like to jump from the edge of the Bifrost. What it have been has terrifying as many make it out to be, or what it be simply freefalling into nothingness for all eternity. In her musings if she had known that the former were true, and how truly terrifying it was to fall off the edge of the Bifrost, she would have never suggested it.

Aphrodite watched as Thor and Loki brawled in the Bifrost then on the Rainbow Bridge. And then watched as Thor brought his hammer down again and again destroying the bridge before the power of the Bifrost could destroy Jotunheim.

“If you destroy the bridge you’ll never see her again!” Loki shouted desperately.

“Forgive me Jane.” Thor muttered to himself as he continued bringing his hammer down on the bridge

Loki grew enraged and roared as he charged at Thor with his sceptre raised, Aphrodite threw herself between them but the action was in vain as the Rainbow Bridge finally cracked under the force of Mjolnir and the three were thrown from the edge.

Aphrodite held on tightly to her father’s sceptre Thor gripping the other end and Loki gripping her other hand. Odin himself holding tight and strong to Thor's ankle preventing his children from falling in the swirling abyss below.

"I could have done it father. I could have done it!" Aphrodite had never heard Loki sound so desperate, so broken. "For you! For all of us!" Loki continued to plead.

Odin's gaze remained unwavering. "No Loki."

Aphrodite for however many centuries she lived would never understand why Odin choose that moment to shatter what was left of Loki.

If Loki wasn't sure that he had a heart, he definitely knew now, because he felt it break after Odin said those words. Then he looked to Aphrodite, his sister no matter their blood, the one person that he really truly loved. And swore that he would never hurt. He knew then that he was the monster he was born to be.

Aphrodite felt Loki let lose her hand. "No Loki!" She cried as she felt him begin to slip and Thor echoed her. "No!" She screamed when she fully lost her grip on him and he fell, his eyes on them the whole time.

Aphrodite felt numb as she was pulled back on the bridge, she didn't even realize that she was crying until Thor pulled her into his comforting embrace.

* * *

 

The following day all of Asgard was celebrating Thor's quick thinking and heroic actions, and though no one had said it aloud, all but the royal family were celebrating that the dark prince was gone. Lost between realms.

All but one, the Princess of Asgard chose not to join in the celebration. She had feasted then made her quick escape.

Everyone understand why she had distanced herself, she and Loki were close, they formed a bond through their love of magic, and a strong relationship with their mother.

And now, now Aphrodite felt lost, abandoned even, without him there. She could hear Heimdall and Thor behind her, speaking to one another.

"And my sister?" Thor questioned after asking the condition of Jane Foster.

"She mourns for her brother." Heimdall's deep ever calm voice responded.

Thor nodded then approached Aphrodite.

"Sister," Thor began, laying a strong hand on Aphrodite's shoulder and she turned to face him. "He's gone."

Aphrodite shook her head, "No."

"Aphrodite, even if he survived the fall-”

“I understand now,” she interrupted him. “Why he did it.”

“Aphrodite-” Thor began warning clear in his voice.

“I didn’t say he was right, or just in what he did. But think for a moment, what would you have done if you were not, what they had always said you were.”

Thor was quiet for a moment as he thought about her words.

“Loki said- he said he wasn’t our brother.”

Thor down at her, question in his eyes and Aphrodite took his arm and teleported them to one of the many sitting rooms in the palace, thankfully it was empty.

“Sit.” She urged.

Thor did as asked still asking the wordless question. Aphrodite stood in front of him and placed both hands on his head then projected into his mind what she saw of Loki and Odin in the weapons vault.

When she removed her hands Thor hand his head bowed his shoulders shaking with silent sobs. Instead of forcing him to raise is head to meet her eyes, she sunk down to her knees and caught his eye.

“Now do you see?” Thor nodded and wrapped his large arms around Aphrodite as he finally let himself mourn his loss.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so brings us to the end of the first Thor. Yayyyy.
> 
> Shorter chapter than most, but in true MCU fashion Avengers is up next, which I’m very exicited for Aphrodite will meet Steve ;), Nat and the entire crew very shortly.
> 
> As always please let me know what you think, and what you would like to see in the future.
> 
> P.S.
> 
> I know that I haven’t given very much description, but who would you all have in mind as a face claim for Aphrodite if you had to have one. I’m torn between two actresses, but I’d really love to hear you guy’s opinion.
> 
> She can be an actress, model, singer, literally anyone.
> 
> Let me know.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Easter everyone, here's the start to the Avengers.
> 
> Slow start as per usual but things will pick up.
> 
> As usual I own nothing. 
> 
> Don't forget to let me know what face-claim you guys have for Aphrodite.
> 
> I appreciate all the love and comments.

_"The Tesseract has awakened."_

There was a glowing blue cube.

_"He is ready to lead them."_

A golden staff.

_"The Chitauri will follow."_

A grotesque warrior.

_"The world will be his, the universe ours. And the humans? What can they do? But burn!"_

An extremely familiar pair of green eyes.

* * *

 

Aphrodite shot up from her pillow with a gasp she sat up and blinked blindly around the room ensuring that she was indeed still in her chambers.

This wasn't the first time she had had a dream similar to this, they had been happening for the past year. Slowly getting more vivid, still though, she couldn't figure out what they meant.

But she knew for sure one thing, they weren't dreams, they felt too real to be dreams, came to constantly for it not to be a reality. Who's reality? Now she finally knew and she knew that but something was coming.

And judging by her most recent dream, it has already arrived.

In light of this realization Aphrodite breathed one word.

“Loki.”

* * *

 

After finally getting back to sleep the night before, the next morning, Aphrodite ventured to the Great Library, a place where she spent most of her time in her youth, and had recently taken up residence in once again.

She had been there since day had broken over the Asgardian sky, sitting in one of the large arm chairs she sketched, for hours she sketched whatever images came to mind. Her hands moved on their own accord, sketching whatever visions came forth.

Later she still sat in the chair, her body now relieved of the tension it held, in her lap rested one of Loki's spell books. After he fell Aphrodite had taken to going through the monstrous piles of books in various places about his chambers, and was shocked to discover not only Asgardian spell books, but books of his own creation. His most dangerous spells and enchantments.

* * *

 

Blue flames danced around him, but not burning him. He seemed to be at peace within them.

His head raised a sinister smirk across his face.

And then all hell broke loose, weapons were fired.

He killed them without a second thought.

He took some of the more worthy ones as captives.

Agent Clint Barton.

Eric Selvig.

_"I come with glad tidings of a world made free. From freedom."_

He was pleased he had taken it, the Tesseract.

* * *

 

For the second night in a row Aphrodite shot up from her pillow, she bolted from her bed and out the door moving quickly through the halls and into Thor’s bedchamber.

“Wake up, Thor,” she said while shaking his massive arm. “Wake up!”

“What?” The bleary eyed God of Thunder finally rolled over. “What’s wrong sister?” He said as she pulled him out of his bed. “What’s happened? Are you hurt?”

“No, I’m fine, just come on.” She said dragging him out of the room.

* * *

 

"Thor he is out there, what more proof do you need?" Aphrodite pleaded with her brother after showing him what she had seen in her dream.

"He's gone sister." Thor grumbled as he sat at one of the tables in the library, head in his hands trying not to fall back to sleep.

"It means everything. It means he's alive, and he wanted me to know that."

"Even if that was true sister, why would he show you this? Why now? How do you know that he's not manipulating you?"

"You know as well as I do, if he didn't want something to be seen, no one not even I would have seen it. He wanted me to know."

"Why?"

"To save him?! To stop him?! I can't know for sure."

"What if he is too far gone to be saved?"

"I _saw_ him, that has to count for something.”

Thor was silent for a moment. "Where is he?"

"Midgard."

Then the doors to Thor's chambers opened one of the guards came king. "The king requests your presence in the throne room."

* * *

 

When they entered the Throne Room Heimdall was already there, stood before the king, which could only mean something terrible has happened, because Heimdall rarely, ever abandoned his post.

"He is in Midgard my Lord, he has taken the Tesseract."

Tension hung thick in the Throne room as everyone allowed Heimdall's words to sink in.

"How many lives has he taken?" The Allfather finally broke the tense silence.

"A great many father. He has attacked Midgard's defenders as well as their commoners. He also had a number of them under his control, he is planning something, building something." Aphrodite explained. "I've seen it."

Odin stood from his throne needing the entire support of his staff to aid him; he had awoken from his sleep prematurely to save his children from falling off the Bifrost and therefore was still very weak. But he refused to go under again, Asgard need his protection, his guidance.

"I will travel to Midgard to retrieve Loki, and the Tesseract. It should not have been in the mortals possession for so long. Thor, you will watch over the throne in my absence."

Thor stepped forwards and kneeled before the king. "Forgive me father but you are not strong enough for a journey to Midgard. Allow me to go in your place and bring back Loki."

Aphrodite joined her brother before the king. "I as well father. We promised the mortals the earth was under our protection. I can make Loki see reason, and I will do whatever it takes to bring him back."

The Allfather was silent for what felt like far too long as he considered his children's request. "I shall allow it."

Thor and Aphrodite stood as Odin slowly moved down the stairs to the throne to stand before them. "I send you both to Midgard, Now."

As he spoke the candles in the throne room dimmed and a surged of power ran through the entire room, Odin raised him staff and dark storm clouds began to roll in and engulf the son and daughter of Odin.

Thor clutched Mjolnir tightly in one hand while the other clutched his sisters. Lightening shot up from the black clouds hitting pieces of their armour but their stares remained unwavering on the Allfather, the clouds grew and grew until they completely engulfed the children of Odin.

Then Odin raised his staff and a bright light followed by a clap of thunder appeared then disappeared and as fast as the clouds had gathered they were gone. And with them they took Thor and Aphrodite.

To Midgard.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Less than a week until Infinity War is released and I’m already living in denial. I’m not ready. Are you guys?
> 
> Also, why did I start the Avengers storyline knowing that end of semester what fast approaching and the amount of work that I’d be getting? *Face-palm*
> 
> I never learn.
> 
> As always I own nothing.
> 
> Enjoy.

 

“ _Has he said anything?_ " Nick Fury questioned Agent Natasha Romanoff through her headpiece as she and another agent were flying the quinjet back to the helicarrier. Loki, Captain America and Iron Man in the back of the plane. The latter’s keeping a close eye on the former.

"Not a word," replied Natasha back.

 _"Just get him here. We're low on time."_ Nick responded before he ended the call.

"I don't like it," said Steve Rogers, also known as Captain America as he approached Tony Stark also known as Iron Man.

"What Rock of Ages giving up so easily?" asked Tony, glancing over at Loki as he spoke in a hushed voice.

"No, I don't remember it being that easy. This guy packs a wallop," said Steve, glancing back at Loki as well.

"But still, you are pretty spry for an older fellow," said Tony easily. "What's your thing? Pilates?"

"What?" asked Steve, a confused look on his face.

"It's like calisthenics. You might have missed a couple of things, you know, doing time as a Capsicle."

"Fury didn't tell me he was calling you in." Steve said monotone to the billionaire.

"Yeah, there's a lot of things Fury doesn't tell you," replied Tony arrogantly, before the sound of thunder rumbled through the ship, followed by a flash of lightning just outside the window.

"Where is this coming from?" Natasha asked staring out at the sky that was clear only seconds ago, before she looked over at Loki who seemed unsettled at the sudden thunder.

"What's the matter? Scared of a little lightning?" asked Steve sarcastically when he and Tony saw the look Loki had on his face as well, he seemed to be searching for something.

"I'm not overly fond of what follows," said Loki.

* * *

 

The dark clouds surrounding them acted as something of a portal thanks to the Allfather’s use of dark magic. As soon as they arrived in Midgard, Thor summoned thunder and lightning to help cloak them an aid in their search for Loki.

"There." Aphrodite called out over the thunder. "He’s in the jet." She clarified and Thor too noticed the black aircraft speeding through the sky.

Thor nodded and they quickly flew towards the jet and landed on top, their combined weight and speed causing the aircraft to jolt. Thor gave her a nod to which Aphrodite responded in kind before focusing her energy phasing through the roof of the jet, feet dropping down into the middle of the aircraft, taking all those inside it by surprise.

The man of metal made a move towards her but with a flick of her wrist she sent him flying into the second man dressed in red, white and blue, after opening the ramp at the rear of the jet Aphrodite turned her sights on Loki, who nearly looked relieved to see her before Thor dropped down onto the ramp and the look turned into one of slight fear.

Freeing him of his restraints with another wave of her hand she grabbed him by his collar and pushed him towards Thor who caught him and swung Mjolnir taking off into the night sky. Aphrodite following soon after.

* * *

 

"And now there’s those two." groaned Tony annoyed as he stood up, Steve doing the same.

"More Asgardians?" asked Natasha as she tried to stabilize the jet.

"Are they friendly’s?" Steve questioned as he watched Tony head for the exit ramp.

"It doesn't matter," Tony responded. "If they free Loki or kill him, the Tesseract's lost."

"Stark, we need a plan of attack," said Steve, taking a step towards him as he was about to jump out of the jet.

"I have a plan," said Tony, glancing back at Steve as his mask snapped shut. "Attack."

And with that said, Tony jumped out of the jet, flying after the three Asgardian royals as fast as his suit could take him.

Steve left out a frustrated sigh and grabbed a nearby parachute and began putting it on.

“I’d sit this one out Cap.” Natasha called as he watched him strap into the parachute.

“I don’t see how I can.”

“These guys come from legends they’re basically Gods."

"There’s only one God ma’am,” Steve said as he grabbed his shield and headed for the ramp. “And I’m pretty sure he doesn’t dress like that.” He said before jumping from the back of the jet.

* * *

 

Thor took them to a mountain and threw Loki harshly down. Loki grunted in pain as he landed but then started laughing.

"Where is the Tesseract?" Thor asked getting straight to the point.

"I missed you too." Loki teased still laughing.

"Do I look to be in a gaming mood?" Thor asked him.

"You should thank me." Loki began as he groaned, starting to get up. "With the Bifrost gone how much dark energy did the Allfather have to conjure to muster you two here? Your precious earth." Loki practically spat.

Deciding to take a different approach Aphrodite pulled Loki the rest of the way to his feet and placed a hand on his chest. "We thought you dead."

Loki's eye's softened in the slightest before being replaced by the same hardness. "Did you mourn?"

"We all did, out father-"

Loki cut her off. "Your father." Loki gripped her hand and removed it. "You knew of my true parentage, did you not?" he said as he began stalking away from them.

"That changes nothing." Aphrodite insisted.

"We were raised together, we played together, we fought together do you remember none of that?" Thor nearly pleaded.

"I remember a shadow. Living in the shade of your greatness." Loki's voice sounded hollow. "I remember you tossing me into an abyss. I who was and should be king."

"So you'd take the world I love as recoupment for your imagined slights." Thor stepped closer to him and Aphrodite just stood back watching them interact. "No, the earth is under my protection, our protection Loki."

Loki once again started laughing. "And what a marvellous job you both are doing with that. The humans slaughter each other in droves while you idly fret. I mean to rule them and why should I not?"

"You think yourself above them?" Aphrodite concluded.

"Well, yes." Loki answered simply.

"Then you miss the truth of ruling brother, a throne would suit you ill." Thor insisted and Loki pushed pass him purposefully bumping his shoulder.

"I've seen worlds you've never known about." Loki shouted. "I have grown  _Odinson,_ " Loki practically hissed in a mocking tone. "In my exile. I have seen the true power of the Tesseract and when I wield it-"

"Who showed you this power? Who controls the would be King?" Thor questioned and Aphrodite quickly slid between them seeing that this argument was going nowhere.

"I am a King!" Loki yelled and Aphrodite gripped him by his shoulders shaking him slightly as she did.

"Not here. You give up the Tesseract you give up this poisonous dream, you come home." Aphrodite's voice cracked at the end and Loki's eyes softened once again.

"I don't have it." He said softly. Thor placed a hand on her shoulder and gently pulled her away as he summoned Mjolnir. "You need the cube to bring me home but I've sent it off I know not where." Loki pointed out innocently.

Thor pointed the hammer at Loki threateningly. "You listen will brother-" Thor never got to finish his sentence because the metal man from the jet suddenly flew in and knocked Thor from the mountain.

"I'm listening." Loki said with a small shrug and Aphrodite let a small smile tug at the corner of her lip at his dry humour. Then followed Thor and the man down to the middle of the forest.

"Do not touch me again." Thor said darkly as he got to is feet.

"Then don't take me stuff." The man of metal said simply, his mask pulled up, exposing his face.

"You have no idea what you're dealing with."

"Um, Shakespeare in the park?" He asked looking around the forest. "Doth mother know, you weareth her drapes?" He asked in an accent that Aphrodite assumed was supposed to mimic theirs.

"This is beyond you metal man." Aphrodite said quickly stepping in front of Thor so that she wouldn't attack the man, yet. "Loki will face Asgardian justice."

"If he gives up the cube he's all yours. Until then." His mask snapped down dramatically. "Stay out of the way." He started to walk away then paused. "Tourists."

Aphrodite sighed then stepped to the side just as Mjolnir flew and hit the man knocking him across the forest.

"Is this really the time to be doing this?" Aphrodite questioned Thor as Mjolnir flew back to his hand, he was about to answer when he suddenly pushed her to side forcefully then was blasted into a tree by the metal man, then kicked through said tree and landing harshly on the forest floor.

Thor stood then called lightning with Mjolnir and shot it at the metal man, electrocuting him. When he stopped there was a rhetorical "How bout' that?" Before the metal man blasted Thor once more, this time it seemed with more force.

Thor landed on his feet, then the two flew at one another meeting in the middle then flying upward continuing their fight. Aphrodite choose not to engage in the battle knowing that Thor could handle himself and watched them from the ground also keeping an eye on Loki, who surprising hadn't tried to escape. Instead he made himself comfortable on a nearby rock and watched the two men fight.

"Men." Aphrodite scoffed watching the two battle not too far off from where she was standing. "It seems that no matter the realm they can't help but behave like complete Neanderthals." She mused out loud.

"I'll say." Aphrodite jumped and turned to face the new voice seeing that it was the second man from the jet.

"Hi."

"Ma'am." He nodded in her direction before brushing past her and catching the attention of the metal man and Thor by throwing the shield attached to his arm, hitting them both before he caught it and secured it back onto his arm.

"That's enough!" The man shouted as stepped closer while Aphrodite went to Thor's side. "I don't know what you two plan on doing here."

"We've come to put an end to Loki's schemes." Thor said vehemently waving his hammer for emphasis.

"Then prove it. Put that hammer down." The man with the shield said seriously and Aphrodite just shook her head.

"Yeah, no bad call. He loves his hammer." The man of metal tried to warn but Thor knocked him away with said hammer without sparring him a glance.

"You want me to put the hammer down?" Thor shouted and Aphrodite drew up a force field around herself as Thor leapt high in the air wielding Mjolnir mightily then brought it down connecting with the man's shield. The collision sent a shockwave throughout the forest and knocking Thor backwards, the trees falling over with the impact.

Aphrodite dropped her force field and eyed the shield with interest, curious as to what it was made of to be able to withstand the force of Mjolnir.

"Are we done here?" Aphrodite questioned the three men as the joined her in the newly made clearing. They all glanced around at the carnage before nodding slowly.

It was quiet for a beat before the hum of an engine was heard as the quinjet landed nearby in the clearing. Aphrodite sparred a glance at Thor before nodding over to where Loki was still seated on a rock.

“Loki.” She said to him and Thor nodded, then with a single glance at the other two men she disappeared with a sharp crack before appearing at Loki’s side.

He didn’t say a word as he stood and looked almost pleased with himself. Aphrodite took him arm and realised something strange then, she couldn’t read his mind. It was like a block of some kind was preventing her from reaching him.

She pondered this as she teleported them back into the jet and secured him within the restraints there. Just as a precaution her eyes glowed gold for a moment and so did his restraints, securing him even more so by way of magic while he just smirked again.

Soon after they were re-joined by the metal man, the man with the shield and Thor.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always let me know what you think and what you’d like to see in the future.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shoutout to luvparadox for the awesome comment.
> 
> Btw how's everyone feeling after watching Infinity War? Dead inside? Have the 5 stages of grief happened yet? I myself am currently in denial.

Shortly after Aphrodite had secure Loki in his seat, Thor and the other two men from the clearing entered the jet.

The man in blue introduced himself as Captain America and the metal man as Iron Man, otherwise known as Steve Rogers and Tony Stark. The woman flying the jet was known as the Black Widow introduced herself as Natasha.

“Thor,” Aphrodite said beckoning him over. “Something’s wrong.” She told him lowly.

“What do you mean?” Thor asked immediately, glancing back at Loki then to the others occupying the jet.

“I can’t read him, Loki I can’t read his mind.”

“I thought that wasn’t possible.” Thor said with his brow furrowed.

“It’s not supposed to be, mother taught him a way to shield his mind from me. But even then I’d be able to see glimpses. This is something different.”

“We need to take him back to Asgard.” Thor concluded.

“And we can’t leave without the Tesseract.” Aphrodite added. “It’s bad enough that for thousands of year no one has had a clue as to where it was.”

Their conversation was interrupted by Tony Stark calling out to them.

“Hey Xena, Point Break focus up we’re here.”

Apparently while they had been talking Natasha had landed them on a flying fortress flying high above the sea, in what seemed like the middle of nowhere.

“Who’s Xena?” She questioned Thor who shrugged in response.

Aphrodite released Loki from his restraints and Thor pulled him out of his seat and followed the others off the jet.

“We’ll take him from here.” A man dressed in all black said as he approached the group flanked by several others. Thor glanced to Aphrodite for confirmation and she nodded then Thor roughly handed him over. The men then began to lead Loki to his cell.

Meanwhile Aphrodite was astonished, it seemed the mortals were more advanced than they ever gave them credit for she thought as they were led by Natasha through the massive ship.

Then the group, sans Tony, was led to a large table in the centre of an area surrounded by people on computers and they were joined by a man in glasses who introduced himself as Dr. Banner.

Aphrodite sat in one of the chairs at the table and Thor stood a little ways behind her staring out the windows at the rising sun.

There were screens on the table that showed live footage of Loki being place into his cell and a dark skinned man with an eye-patch was there speaking with him.

"In case it's unclear," the man began speaking. "You try to escape, you so much as scratch that glass." He leaned over and pressed a button on a control panel that seemed to open up the ground beneath the cage Loki was in accompanied by the sound of rushing wind. "That's thirty thousand feet straight down in a steel trap." He shouted over the wind then closed the hatch. "You get how that works? Ant." He pointed at Loki. "Boot." He gestured to the button that would drop him.

"It's an impressive cage," Loki pointed out. "Not built I think, for me."

Everyone in the room seemed to glance at Dr. Banner then, leaving Aphrodite confused.

"It's built for something a lot stronger than you." The man in black snapped.

"Oh, I've heard." Loki smirked then looked straight into the camera. "The mindless beast, makes play that he's still a man. How desperate are you, that you call on such lost creature to defend you?"

"How desperate am I?" The man in black asked incredulously. "You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace and you kill because it's fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad you did."

"Ohh." Loki teased in a low voice narrowing his eyes, his smirk still in place. "It burns you to have come so close. To have the Tesseract. To have power, unlimited power. And for what?" he looked back into the camera. "A warm light for all mankind to share? And then to be reminded of what real power is."

The man in black scoffed. "Well, let me know if 'real power' wants a magazine of something." He said as he walked away and the screens turned black.

"He really grows on you doesn't he?" Dr. Banner asked sarcastically.

"Loki's gonna' drag this out." Steve spoke from his seat "So, Thor, Aphrodite,” he said turning to face the siblings, “what's his play?"

"He has an army called the Chitauri," Aphrodite spoke. "They're not or Asgard nor any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the earth, in return I suspect for the Tesseract."

"An army?" Steve deadpanned. "From outer space?"

"So he's building another portal?" Dr. Banner concluded. "That's what he needs Eric Selvig for."

"Selvig?" Thor echoed and Aphrodite sunk in her chair a bit recalling that she forgot to tell Thor that small detail.

"He's an astrophysicist." Banner went on to explain.

"He's a friend." Thor replied, narrowing his eyes at his sister slightly for he knew, that she knew and she only shrugged.

"Loki has him under some kind of spell," Natasha spoke for the first time. "Along with one of ours."

"I wanna' know why Loki let us take him." Steve spoke getting back to the point. "He's not leading an army from here."

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki," Banner spoke. "That guy’s brain is a bag full of cats, you could smell crazy on him."

"Have care how you speak." Thor said in a low voice. "Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he is our brother.

"He killed eighty people in two days." Natasha said with simply.

"He's adopted?" Aphrodite said as if that was supposed to make up for his crimes.

"I think it's about the mechanics." Banner spoke his thoughts out loud. "Iridium. What do they need Iridium for?"

"It's a stabilizing agent." A voice spoke and they turned to see Tony Stark strolling in, Agent Coulson by his side. "It means that the portal won't collapse on itself like it did at Shield. No hard feelings Point Break, you got a mean swing." Tony said as he walked pass Thor and tapped him on the arm, Aphrodite was quick to reach out and grab his wrist so he wouldn't attack the man, again.

"Also it means the portal can open as wide and stay open as long as Loki wants." Tony continued. "Uh raise the mid-mast, jib the top sails." He called out to the room of people who stared at him blankly. "That man is playing Galaga." Tony shouted pointing off to his right. "He thought we wouldn't notice, but we did." Tony stood between the computers and stared down at them, then covered one eye looking in between the screens. "How does Fury even see these?" Tony questioned out loud and Aphrodite assumed at 'Fury' was the man with the eye patch.

"He turns." A woman answered monotonously.

"Sounds exhausting." Tony started touching the screens. "The rest of the raw materials Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily." The only major component he really needs is a power source, something to kick-start the cube." He finished as he faced the group.

"When did you become an expert in thermo-nuclear astrophysics?" the same woman asked in the same tone.

"Last night." Tony answered as if it were obvious. "The packet. Selvig's notes, the extraction theory papers. Am I the only one who did the readings?"

"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?” Steve questioned wanting to get back on track.

"He'd have to heat the cube to twenty million Kelvin just to break through the column barrier." Banner, who had been quietly pacing in the back spoke up.

"Unless Selvig has figured out a way to stabilize the quantum tunnel effect." Tony added.

"Well if he could do that he could achieve heavy ion-fusion from any reactor on the planet." Banner finished.

"Finally someone who speaks English." Tony said approaching Dr. Banner.

"Is that what just happened?" Steve asked mostly to himself.

"Good to meet you Dr. Banner," Tony said shaking the man's hand. "Your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."

"Thanks." Banner said uncomfortably.

"Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube." Fury said entering the room. "I was hoping you would join him."

"I'd start with that stick of his." Steve spoke up. "It may be magical, but it works and awful lot like a Hydra weapon."

"I don't know about that but it is powered by the cube." Fury replied. "And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys."

"Monkeys?" Aphrodite echoed her face scrunched in confusion. "I do not understand."

"I do." Steve called out joyfully pointing to her with a smile. "I understood that reference." He said feeling the need to explain his excitement.

"Shall we play doctor?" Tony questioned Dr. Banner.

"This way sir." Banner responded and led him out of the room and everyone else was forced to wait until they had found something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So while I was actively avoiding social media this weekend in an effort to avoid as many Infinity War spoilers as possible, I went ahead and finished the storyline for Avengers and Thor: The Dark World (round of applause for me).  
> I know that Sunday nights are generally my updating time for this story, but in honour of my productivity I’ve decided that I’ll be posting a new chapter for this story every day until I’ve completed the Avengers storyline. When the time for Thor: The Dark World rolls around I’ll see how I feel, but it’ll likely be the same.
> 
> Also I have something really cool and fun planned for the end of Thor: The Dark World, so leave your guesses as to what you think it might be. You know I always love hearing you guy’s ideas and predictions.  
> As always let me know what you think and what you’d like to see in the future.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters because I missed my Sunday update.

It doesn’t make any sense.” Aphrodite spoke some time later. In their waiting her mind had begun to wander, and her thoughts turned to the Tesseract and SHIELD’s involvement with it.

“What?” Thor said turning to face her.

“The Tesseract.” She said looking over her shoulder to see the agents in the room too preoccupied with whatever they were doing to pay attention to the conversation the two were having. “If SHIELD had it all this time, why not lock it away? At least until one or both of us came back?”

“I suppose they couldn’t risk waiting that long.”

“So what were they doing with it? That they could’ve opened a portal for Loki to come through, and more important. Who sent him?”

“You won’t get through to Loki, not now.” Thor reasoned. “Do think you can find out why they had the Tesseract?”

“Not standing here.”

“Thor,” Phil Coulson said approaching them, “I’ve got some news on Dr. Foster.”

Seeing her brother’s eyes light up at the mention of the woman Aphrodite nudged him. “Go.” She said smiling softly.

Thor returned it and quickly but affectionately placed his hand and the side of her neck before following Coulson over to a row of computers. She left the room and no one tried to stop her.

* * *

 

Walking aimlessly because in truth she wasn’t exactly sure what she was looking for while trying to stay out of the way of the passing agents in black, she failed to notice when her path was intercepted by the Captain, Steve Rogers.

Because she wasn't paying attention when she ran into at least 6 feet of solid muscle, she lost her balance and his grip on her arms kept her up right.

"I’m sorry." She said after she righted herself. "Thank you."

"No problem." He responded after making sure she was okay trying to ease the tension in his body but Aphrodite still saw it.

"I've interrupted a deep thought haven't I?" She questioned him. "I can see it growing smaller in your eyes."

"Yeah well. I wouldn't exactly call it a thought." He mumbled to himself. "What are you doing down here? Thor's on the bridge with Coulson if you're looking for him."

"No, I know. I wasn't. Thor's fine, I’m looking for something." Aphrodite remembered that she stumbled into him because he, was headed somewhere with a purpose. "May I ask you something?”

“You just did.” He pointed out with a small quirk of his lips.

“I couldn’t help but notice that you seemed a bit disturbed when discussing the Tesseract.” His face grew grim further solidifying his distaste for the object in question. “Do you know what SHIELD was doing with it?”

“No I don’t.” Steve suddenly snapped to attention and looked around making sure that no agents were lingering around. "But I’m about to find out." He said shortly then brushed past her and started to move through a door.

“I’m coming with you.” She said following close behind and leaving no room for argument.

He gave her a look contemplating whether or not she could be trusted then seemed to make up him mind, and pushed the door open wider, letting her go in before him.

* * *

 

Aphrodite stood back and watched as Steve pried open a door that read 'Secure Storage', Aphrodite was almost certain that, that meant they weren't supposed to be in there but that was beside the point and when Steve forced the door open. She was sure he didn't care that they weren’t supposed to be in there.

"What is this?" Aphrodite questioned as she scanned the room trying to find a solution.

"Shhh." Steve quieted her, then waited until the voices faded before looking around the room himself. He seemed to find what he was searching for. "Come here." He called to her softly and she moved closer to him, he wrapped his arm around her waist and pushed up off one of the crates onto the ledge of the second floor, then hopped over the railing and set her down and continued searching.

Steve opened several crates before pausing and staring down into one of them in disbelief and anger.

"What is it?" Aphrodite questioned seeing the mask and guns laying within.

“Weapons.”

She kneeled next to him and looked through the box as well. “I don’t believe this.”

“What?”

“The Tesseract is an energy source, near-limitless in what can do. If applied corrected it could power anything.”

“So SHIELD wants to use the cube to power new weapons.” Steve finished.

“Or they’ve already done it.” Aphrodite said gesturing to the box.

Steve stared down into the contents of the box before reaching into it and pulling out one of the large guns that were inside.

They stood and turning to the railing that he’s jumped to get them up there. Steve hesitated wondering how he was going to get them both down when Aphrodite place her hand on his arm. He looked at her and she gave him a reassuring small before he felt his stomach drop and suddenly they were back on the ground floor.

“You alright?” Aphrodite asked him knowing that first time teleportation was a rather unpleasant feeling.

“I owe Fury ten more bucks.” He mumbled as he led them from the room.

* * *

 

"What is phase 2?" Steve and Aphrodite heard Tony Stark's voice call out sarcastically. They entered to see him glaring at the Director, and Steve dropped the heavy gun on the island in the middle of the lab with a resounding bang,

"Phase 2, is SHIELD uses the Cube to make weapons." Steve told them. "Sorry, the computer was moving a bit slow for us."

"Rogers we gathered everything related to the Tesseract, that does not mean-" Director Fury tried to defend himself but was cut off by Tony.

"I'm sorry Nick." He began, turning the screen to face them showing that, that was exactly what he was panning. "What were you lying?"

"I was wrong Director, the world hasn't changed a bit." Steve said glaring at him.

"Did you know about this?" Dr. Banner questioned Agent Romanoff as she and Thor entered the lab, the brother and sister moving to each other's side. Thor asked her a question with his eyes and she nodded in response.

"You wanna think about moving yourself from the environment doctor?" Natasha responded ignoring his question.

"Oh, I was in Calcutta I was pretty well removed." He responded snidely.

"Loki is manipulating you."

"And you've been doing what exactly?"

"You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you."

"Yeah and I'm not leaving because you suddenly get a little twitchy." Dr. Banner turned to face the screens once again effectively ending their exchange. "I wanna know why S.H.I.E.L.D is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction?"

Director Fury was silent for a moment. "Because of them." He finally answered pointing to Aphrodite and Thor.

"Us?" Thor asked pointing to himself while Aphrodite raised an eyebrow.

"Last year earth had two visitors from another planet, who had grudge matches that levelled a small town." The Director went on to explain. "And we learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly and hilariously out gunned."

"Our people want nothing but peace with your planet." Thor defended.

"But you're not the only people out there are you? And you're not the only threat. The world is filling up with people that can't be matched. Can't be controlled."

"Like you controlled the cube?" Steve questioned again.

"Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies." Aphrodite spoke. "It is a signal to all the realms that the earth is ready for a higher form of war."

"A higher form?" Steve echoed.

"You forced our hand, we had to come up with some-" the Director started but was cut off once again by Tony.

"A nuclear deterrent, cause' that always calms everything right down."

"Remind me again how you made your fortune Stark?" Director asked attempting to turn the tides.

"I'm sure if Stark still made weapons he would be neck deep in-" Steve started but was cut off by Stark as well.

"Hold on how is this now about me?" Stark questioned.

"I'm sorry isn't everything?" Steve answered with venom.

"I thought humans were more evolved than this." Thor spoke with authority also glaring at the Directors.

"Excuse me, do we come to your planet and blow stuff up?" The director questioned incredulously.

"You treat your champions with such mistrust, then you expect them t-" Aphrodite said to him.

"They're not my champions." Fury interrupted.

"Are you all really that naive, SHIELD monitors potential threats." The Black Widow spoke up.

"Captain America is on threat watch?" Dr. Banner asked in disbelief.

"We all are."

"That is not your concern Doctor." The director informed him.

"If you had just let us take the Tesseract and Loki back to where they belong in the first place, on Asgard, all of this could have been avoided." Aphrodite spoke to the Director as everyone around continued to argue, Thor with Dr. Banner, Stark and Steve and Natasha somewhat trying to keep the peace.

"You speak of control yet you court chaos." Thor spoke loudly over everyone quieting them down.

"That's his M.O isn't it?" Dr. Banner spoke. "What are we a team? No we're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're, we're a time bomb."

"You need to step away." The director spoke darkly.

"Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?" Stark asked placing his hand on Steve's shoulder as if they were old friends.

"You know damn well why, back off." Steve said angrily throwing his hand off.

"Oh, I'm starting to want you to make me." Stark said straightening up in front of Steve.

Steve smiled condescendingly. "Right, big man in a suit of armour. Take that off, and what are you?"

"Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist." Stark shot right back.

"I know guys with none of that worth ten of you." Steve hissed. "Yeah I've seen the footage, the only thing you really fight for is yourself." Steve grew even tenser if possible. "You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on the wire and let the other guy crawl over you."

"I think I would just cut the wire." Stark responded nonchalantly.

Steve smirked. "Always a way out. You know you may not be a threat but you better stop pretending to be a hero."

"A hero?" Tony repeated in disbelief. "Like you? You're a laboratory experiment Rogers, everything special about you came from a bottle."

"Put on the suit, let's go a few rounds." Steve hissed.

Thor suddenly laughed. "You people are so petty, and tiny."

"Yeah this is a team." Dr. Banner suddenly spoke up.

"Agent Romanoff would you please escort Dr. Banner back to his-" The Director began but was cut off, this time by Dr. Banner.

"Where? You rented my room." Dr. Banner snapped, referring to the cell Loki was currently housed in.

Director Fury sighed. "The cell was just in case-"

"In case you needed to kill me, but you can't I know I've tried." The entire room fell silent at the doctor's dark confession. "I got low," he began to explain. "I didn't see an end, so I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit it out. So I moved on, I focused on helping other people. I was good, until you dragged me back into the freak show. And put everyone here at risk. You wanna know my secret Agent Romanoff?" He spat reaching out to the table behind him. "You wanna know how I stay calm?"

Everyone in the room grew tense as he took a hold of Loki's sceptre and was looking murderous.

"Dr. Banner." Steve called out in a voice filled with authority. "Put down the sceptre."

Bruce looked down at the sceptre in his hands as if he couldn't believe that he was holding it. A sudden beeping noise filled the room.

"Got it." Stark called out as Bruce placed the sceptre back on its stand.

"Sorry kids I guess you don't get to see my party trick after all." Bruce said moving towards one of the computers.

"You located the Tesseract?" Aphrodite asked.

"I can get there faster." Stark said quickly moving across the room.

"The Tesseract belongs on Asgard. No human is a match for it." Thor warned them.

Stark started to leave the room but Steve grabbed his arm to stop him. "You're not going along."

Stark pushed his arm away from him just as Steve had done earlier. "Your gonna stop me?"

"Put on the suit let's find out." Steve shot back.

"I'm not afraid to hit an old man."

"Put on the suit." Steve hissed.

Aphrodite barely registered Dr. Banner mumbling "Oh my God."

Then there was a huge explosion and the floor disappeared.


	19. Chapter 19

When she gathered her bearings Aphrodite realized that she was laid out on the floor in a different part of the Helicarrier, surrounded by glass.

She heard a female groan and looked over to see Agent Romanoff just next to her, and her foot was trapped beneath a piece of the lab that had fallen with them.

"Natasha, are you okay?" Aphrodite asked after she crawled closer to the woman, making sure that she suffered no serious injury.

"I'm fine." There was another groan and Aphrodite looked to see that Dr. Banner had fallen with them, and he was now struggling to keep control.

"Doctor?" Aphrodite called apprehensively.

"Bruce?" Natasha tried again to no avail. "Help me." Aphrodite set to work trying to lift the pipe to free her, while she tried to communicate with Dr. Banner. "Bruce, you gotta' fight it, this is exactly what Loki wants."

"You hurt?" A SHIELD worker called and Natasha waved them off.

"We're gonna' be okay. I swear on my life you will wake away from this and never ever have to-"

"Get a life!" Dr. Banner suddenly shouted his body growing and to Aphrodite's astonishment, turning green.

He growled loudly, his body growing even more as he threw himself from the platform they had landed on and looking back at them with almost remorse.

"Bruce?" Natasha soft voice called to him and it was then that Aphrodite noticed that the Black Widow was shaking.

Banner stumbled away from them and Aphrodite finally gave up on trying to lift the pipe and touched the other woman's leg then the pipe fell through with a bang before she helped Natasha to her feet.

"Run!" Aphrodite pushed Natasha ahead of her and up a set of stairs when Banner turned then charged.

Natasha made it to the top but Aphrodite was forced to pull herself up onto a platform on the other side of the stairs when Banner suddenly and quite literally ripped the stairs from beneath her feet.

Natasha looked in concern but was forced to move when Banner ripped away the grate she was standing on.

Bruce then turned his sights on Aphrodite, and reached up taking a hold of the pipe that was in front of her and ripping it away. Aphrodite only heard his loud growls as she ran in the same direction Natasha had gone.

* * *

It was almost deadly silent deep in the bowels of the Helicarrier where Aphrodite was. Every so often she would hear Bruce's heavy footfalls and she only hoped the Natasha was alright. She saw shadows that she thought were her own but couldn't be sure.

She turned a corner and was faced with the barrel of a gun, then Natasha's still terrified face, although now with a hint of relief.

Then Aphrodite jumped at a sudden loud growl then Natasha shoot over her head at a pipe above Bruce's. Then they ran once again.

Aphrodite aided Natasha, seeing as the woman was limping slightly, as they ran as fast as they could. Bruce right behind destroying everything in his path. They ran through a glass tunnel, the glass behind them shattered at Bruce's force, sparks flew as they reached the end. Then they flew when Bruce swiped with his massive hand sending the two women crashing painfully into one of the crates.

As they struggled to sit up Bruce stop in front of them ready to deliver the final blow when a blur of red, silver and blonde suddenly flew in then out, taking Bruce with him.

Aphrodite tried to regulate her breathing and she sat up properly favouring on side as she took the brunt of the hit, then she looked over at Natasha, who had wrapped her hands around her legs that she had pulled up to her chest and was still shaking.

"You alright?" Aphrodite asked as she bravely took a hold of one of her hands, surprised that despite her shaking, she squeezed back, and nodded.

Natasha suddenly lifted her other hand to her ear. "This is Agent Romanoff. I copy." Natasha stood on wobbly legs then composed herself. "Clint." Was all she said upon seeing Aphrodite's questioning gaze and she nodded.

"Good luck." Natasha nodded her thanks then left.

* * *

"Does this satisfy you? The mayhem that you've orchestrated?" Aphrodite's voice rung out in the detention level where Loki's cage was stationed.

"Satisfaction isn't in my nature, sister, you know that better than most."

"Why did you come? Why did you let them take you?"

"It is so much easier to manipulate those who believe to be in control."

"So what happens next? You escape? You finish this? What of our family?"

"I don't have it." Loki repeated the words that he had spoken on the mountain top not too long ago, then Loki suddenly disappeared from within his cage, appeared before her with one of his daggers help to her throat, then took them both back into the cage as several of his possessed followers entered the room.

"I'm not afraid of you." Aphrodite told him shakily.

Once again Loki's mask fell. "I know." Loki suddenly perked up and his usual smirk adorned his face again. "Your brother approaches." Loki spun her around just as the doors to the cage began to open and Thor stopped at the entrance to the room.

"No!" he shouted in rage then lunged as Loki threw Aphrodite to the side and braced himself for Thor's attack, but it never came as Thor flew straight through Loki's illusion landing in the cage with a grunt. "Sister." Thor said looking over Aphrodite.

"I'm fine." She assured him.

"Are you ever not going to fall for that?" Loki's voice called sarcastically.

Thor growled and the glass with his hammer only resulting in the mechanisms on either side opening and dropping the cage a few inches.

Loki smirked before moving to the panel that controlled the cage. "The humans think us immortal, should we test that?"

Suddenly one of Loki's followers fell to the floor with a cry of pain and Coulson appearing from behind him with one of the Phase 2 weapons in his hand. "Move away please." He told Loki who held his hands up in surrender. "You like this? We started working on the prototype after you sent the Destroyer." Coulson explained still holding the large weapon. "Even I don't know what it does." He pushed a button and the gun whirled to life. "You wanna' find out?"

Loki suddenly disappeared then the tip on Loki's sceptre was protruding from Coulson's chest and Loki appear behind him.

"No!" Aphrodite screamed as Coulson fell to the ground. That was the first time she had seen him take an innocent life.

Loki walked back to the panel and pushed a button which opened up the round beneath the cage. With one last look at his forgotten siblings, slight regret as he gaze at his sister, he pushed another button and the two heirs of Odin fell, trapped with a steel dome.

* * *

Free falling thousands of feet in a steel dome was not ideal. It was difficult to tell which way was up, which was down, as the dome around them spun wildly and them within it.

Thor had tried to Mjolnir against the glass again put couldn't create enough momentum.

It was then the Aphrodite realized the ground was fast approaching, the dome spun wildly once again but this time, tossed her straight into her brother, and she latched onto his back as he finally grounded himself on the opposite side of the cage, long enough for his to focus on the crack that he had created no more than five minutes prior. And he pushed off the glass, hammer first, straight towards the crack and they broke through seconds before the dome exploded upon crashing onto the earth.

The momentum that Thor had used to break though the dome sent them tumbling across the grass, landing of opposite sides of the island that lay now in near ruins.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Start of the big battle scene, sorry no soundtrack for this one.

_"Sister."_ Aphrodite groaned at the voice but began to gather her wits and quickly remembered what happen and where she was, a reminder was the grass beneath her head.

 _"Aphrodite."_ Thor's voice hissed again and with another groan, she rolled onto her back to face her brother who was down on a knee by her side.

"Thor?" He nodded then reached out a hand to place it on the side of her neck.

"Yes. Are you alright?" He questioned, Aphrodite nodded then Thor proceeded to grab her just under her arms and pull her to her feet.

"Are you alright?" Aphrodite asked him the same question after she steadied herself.

"Yes. Come now, we must stop Loki." Thor said grimly then pulled her along to where Mjolnir had landed.

Thor reached out his hand and both were confused when the hammer didn't budge, Thor clenched his fist then glanced at his sister and reached out taking the hammer by the handle and lifting it with the power that only the mighty Thor was worthy of. Then he thrust his hammer upward and summoning lighting that clashed with the hammer and began to cloak Thor fully in his battle armour.

Aphrodite, not really one for theatrics, too readied herself for battle with a golden mist encasing her and her battle armour repairing itself, her cape once again attaching itself to her shoulders.

She smirked at her brother. "It's time." She said simply.

Thor nodded at swung Mjolnir and they both took off.

* * *

 

"We're too late!" Aphrodite told her brother as they approached the city to see Loki standing atop one of the buildings, clad in full armour, horned helmet and all.

The portal was already opened, Chitauri pouring through, and Tony Stark in his Iron Man suit trying his hardest to keep them at bay.

"Loki!" Thor yeller at his brother once he and his sister had landed on top of the building. "Turn off the Tesseract, or we will destroy it."

"You can't." Loki barked right back. "There is no stopping it. There is only the war."

Thor turned to look to Aphrodite seeing the trepidation on her face and knowing she wanted no part in this. "Go." He said simply and she nodded jumping off the side of the building and onto one of the Chitauri ships. "So be it." Thor said gravely to Loki, who leap towards him, sceptre held high as the two weapons met with a loud clash.

* * *

 

Aphrodite landed then immediately eliminated the driver of the ship followed by the second in command, Chitauri were vicious and grotesque warriors but were also fiercely loyal, so when some of the other warriors noticed who she was and what she'd just done, they turned their attention to her and away from Stark.

It seemed as if she was barely even making a dent in the warrior's numbers, even time she dispatched of one, it seemed that there were three more ready to take its place.

Aphrodite flew around the corner of a building, and because two of the Chitauri that were following her did not have much control over their ship they crashed into the opposite building.

 _"Stark we're on your six heading north-east."_ Aphrodite suddenly heard Natasha's voice in her ear through the ear piece she had forgotten up until this point.

 _"What did you stop for drive-thru?"_ Stark's sarcastic voice responded.  _"Swing up park I'm gonna lay em' out for you."_

Aphrodite spun around and sent a blast of energy towards one of the ships blowing it apart and the other being taken down by the debris.

Hearing a crashing sound, Aphrodite turned to see one of the quinjets had just crashed into a building, one of its wings flaming and quickly losing altitude. She sped up and once she was above the jet she extended her hand, the jet becoming encompassed in a gold bubble.

Gently Aphrodite manoeuvred the jet to a large empty space in the heart of the city then set it down. Quickly out of the jet came Captain Rogers, Natasha and Agent Barton who looked up and spotted her almost immediately and gave a nod of thanks.

Hearing a now familiar sound Aphrodite noticed more of the ships heading for her and took off in the opposite direction. It had become a bit easier to take them out now knowing where their weak spots were, but Aphrodite had to pause upon seeing the Chitauri Leviathan slithering its way out of the portal.

 _"Is everyone seeing this?"_ Captain Rogers' voice rang out.

 _"I'm seeing."_ Tony spoke as he flew after the thing, knowing this was going to be their biggest threat.  _"Still working on believing. Where's Banner? Has he showed up yet?"_

 _"Banner?"_  Steve asked in a confused voice as Tony bit his lip. He knew nobody else was going to wait on him like he was.

 _"Just keep me posted."_  He ended the talk with Steve, switching to Jarvis. "Find me a soft spot."

* * *

 

Thor had Loki down on the floor, pulling his collar to him as he made him look at all the explosions plaguing the city. "Look at this. Look around you." As Loki looked out, something passed over his face. Fear. It gave Thor the hope that he could break through to him. "You think this madness will end with your rule?"

Loki turned back to him, that face of fear still all over his face. "It's too late." He looked back to the city, clenching his teeth at all of this. "It's too late to stop it."

"No." Thor gave his younger brother a slight smile. "We can. Together."

Loki's face softened, a bright smile spreading across his lips. That's when he decided now was the time to do it. He stuck a knife in Thor's stomach, leaving it sitting inside as he fell to the ground. "Sentiment." Loki whispered before Thor got up, pushing him back and throwing him on the balcony.

Loki took this turn to roll off the balcony, landing on one of the alien jets just in time for Thor to see him fly off. With and annoyed grunt, Thor pulled the small knife out of his stomach before picking up his hammer to join the rest of his team on the battlefield.

* * *

 

Clint ran over to the abandoned bus. Cars sat in the way of the entrance so he was forced to pull the passengers from the windows of the bus. Natasha was covering him, shooting any alien that came their way as Clint worked on getting the bus doors open. And once he got it, he went right back to destroying every single alien he could with Natasha.

She shot off bullets from her pistols as Clint shot off the arrows from his bow. Natasha turned to him slightly, not taking her eye off the ball. "It's just like Budapest all over again."

Clint scrunched his brow, feeling like she was insane for even thinking that as he continued shooting off arrows. "You and I remember Budapest very differently."

* * *

 

The police officers tried their best to protect the people, but they didn't even know what was going on. They shot their guns, but it didn't do much help. It was all overwhelming, the sergeant was just standing in the middle of the street now, watching everything play out with utter confusion on his face. A younger cop hurried to him, out of breath, looking just as confused as his sergeant. "We're trying to scramble together the National Guard." He reported urgently.

The two dodged one of the alien blows before looking back to each other. "The National Guard?!" The sergeant asked incredulously. "Does the army know what's happening here?"

The younger cop looked down, realizing something. "Do we?" His sergeant stared at him for a moment before they were interrupted by a banging sound.

They both looked up with their guns ready, but stopped at the sight of the idolized, living legend, Captain America. "You need men in these buildings." Steve commanded as he pointed to the buildings behind him. "There are people inside and they're going to be running right into the line of fire." The sergeant looked around, finding this all so hard to believe. Was this even real? "You take them to the basements or the subway, but you keep them off the streets. And I need a perimeter. As far back as 39th."

"Why the hell should I take orders from you?" The sergeant questioned incredulously.

Steve glared at the man then an explosion went off just behind him and he spun around as the Chitauri descended. He blocked the alien's weapon with his shield, punching it before it could stab him. Steve looked to what was coming to and deflected a shot from the weapon and pushed it off the taxi using his shield. He grabbed the arm the that Chitauri had a gun on and sliced it off using the shield

That was enough to tell the sergeant to trust this man. He immediately turned around, going for his radio. "I need men in those buildings, lead the people down and away from the streets."

"You got it." The younger cop called out, still taken aback with Steve Rogers.

"I want to shut off the perimeter all the way down of 39th street and make sure all those people in that perimeter are underground and out of there."

* * *

 

Tony flew after the snake like creature, sending off as many missiles as he could at once, but it did nothing to it. Actually, when it saw where the missiles were coming from, it got angry. Tony floated in the air for a moment, taking in what was actually happening.

"Well," He sighed out before figuring out where he was going. "We got its attention." He began to dash the other way. "What the hell's step two?"

* * *

 

Aphrodite flew back to where she had left, Captain Rogers, and agents Barton and Romanoff, and landed on the back of one of the Chitauri, pulling out a dagger and plunging it deep into the back of its head. Lightning suddenly struck down the remaining and Thor followed landing then leaning heavily against an overturned car.

"You alright?" Aphrodite questioned moving to his side to which he nodded.

"What's the story upstairs?" Steve asked as he approached the siblings.

"The powers surrounding the cube is impenetrable."

 _"Thor's right."_  Tony spoke from the radio, causing them all to look up to find out where he was now.  _"We gotta deal with these guys."_

"How do we do this?" Natasha asked while looking out at all the aliens. This seemed pretty impossible.

"As a team." Steve spoke without hesitation.

"I have unfinished business with Loki." Thor claimed.

"Yeah?" Clint spoke while working on one of his many arrowheads. "Get in line."

"Save it. Loki is gonna keep this fight focused on us and that's what we need. Without him these things could run wild." Steve moved to the front of the group. "We got Stark up top. He's gonna need us to,"

He trailed off at the sound of a motorcycle and when he turned around, they all noticed Dr. Bruce Banner making his way toward all of them. "So," He spoke with a shrug as he looked back and forth at the five of them. "This all seems horrible."

Aphrodite and Natasha shared a glance. "We've seen worse." Natasha spoke while looking him over.

Bruce gave her a slight smile, still feeling bad about everything he had done to her. "Sorry."

"No." She spoke with the shake of the head, a slight smile growing on her lips. "We could…use a little worse."

 _"Stark,"_  Steve spoke into the coms _. "He's here, just like you said."_

 _"Banner."_  Tony spoke in a knowing voice with a growing smile.  _"Tell him to suit up. I'm bringing the party to you."_

With that, Tony flew around the corner of the building with the snake like alien following right on his tail. They all took deep breaths, knowing this was about to be a intense battle. "I don't see how that's a party."

Tony led the eel to the ground, causing it to tear up the road. Bruce got a smile, beginning to go toward it. There was nothing more satisfying to him than knowing that he was going to change by his own doing. "Dr. Banner," Steve stopped him while reaching out his hand, worried about him as much as all of them. "Now might be a really good time to get angry."

"That's my secret, Captain." He looked over his shoulder, his smile only getting wider as he walked forward. "I'm always angry." And with that, he began to grow into the huge, green man they were so fascinated with. The Hulk.

The hulk smashed his giant fist straight into the nose of the Leviathan, the Hulk was pushed back a few feet, but the force of his punch caused the Leviathan to curl in on itself, its tail going over its head and coming down towards them.

"Hang on." Stark said as he flew down and shot off a rocket causing the tail to explode and pieces of the ship to go flying, Thor raised his arm blocking the debris, Steve protected himself and Natasha with his shield and Aphrodite moved over to Clint covering them with a force field.

The ship fell off the side of the bridge and everyone relaxed for only a moment before the Chitauri ripped off their masks exposing their grotesque faces and roared at the loss of their mother-ship.

The Hulk roared right back as two more Leviathan came through the portal, hundreds of Chitauri ships following suit. The Avengers stood in a circle their backs to each other as each readied themselves and their weapons for the coming battle.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDITED

"Guys," Natasha spoke in a weary voice, eyeing the Chitauri still coming through the portal.

"Call it, Captain." Stark called out, giving Steve the obvious leadership role.

"Alright, listen up." Steve said moving to the front of the group. "Until we can close that portal our priority is containment." He looked over at Clint. "Barton, I want you on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays."

"Stark," Steve called out to Tony who turned to face him. "You got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or you turn it to ash."

"You wanna' give me a lift?" Clint asked Tony.

"Sure." Stark responded as he moved closer to him and grabbed the back of the suit. "Better clench up, Legolas." With that, they were off.

"Thor," Steve spoke, to the God. "You've got to try and bottleneck that portal. Slow them down." The two looked up at the portal just as Thor began to swing his hammer that would send him flying in whatever direction he pointed to. "You've got the lightening, light the bastards up." Thor and Aphrodite shared a nod before he took off.

"Aphrodite you sweep the group for strays, you see any civilians you get them to safety then take em' out." Aphrodite nodded then jumped over the edge of the bridge and onto the street.

Steve turned to Natasha. "You and me, we stay here on the ground, keep the fighting here." Steve took this time to give his last order to the final avenger. "And Hulk," The creature looked to him as he brought up his finger, knowing exactly what he was going to say before he began ordering the others. "Smash."

The Hulk looked at his leader, a huge smile coming on his face. With that order, he jumped into the air, taking down the nearest aliens he could find. Bruce, he was on the inside, happy. Happy that he was using this curse he was plagued with for good. He got to lose control for a good cause.

* * *

Thor ended up on the Empire State Building, he thrust Mjolnir high and summoned as much lightening as he could, it built as much as he could take it before he threw it at the portal. It destroyed most of the Chitauri that were coming in the next wave, but it did nothing to the portal itself. It all began to make him feel hopeless. Maybe they wouldn't be able to shut this portal.

* * *

Clint stood on one of the highest rooftops, close to Stark Towers, shooting down every Chitauri he saw. "Stark," Clint called out over the radio. "You have a lot of strays coming your way."

Tony looked back, hitting as many as he could before he focused back on flying. "Just trying to keep them off the streets."

"Well, they can't bank with a damn." Clint claimed before firing an arrow at one of the Chitauri without even looking. "Find a tight corner."

"I will roger that." Tony responded then flew low, and through a tunnel and around a corner, the Chitauri had lost control over their ships and flew into buildings and killing themselves while Tony didn't even lift a finger. All thanks to Clint. "Thanks." Tony spoke, starting to realize that Clint was really good at what he does. "Nice call." He then began to think, knowing that even though this was going to be a traumatic experience, he could still have fun with it. "What else do you got?"

Clint looked around, appreciating his bird's eye view. "Well, Aphrodite's taking out a squadron on 6th."

Tony pulled his lips to the side, knowing he would be able to have fun with that one. "And she didn't invite me."

* * *

Natasha was picked up and thrown on her back on the hood of a taxi. The alien picked up its spear, trying to stab her with it, but she moved her head out of the way before wrapping her legs around him to pull herself up and take out the programming in the back of its neck.

She took over the spear, shooting any of the aliens that came to her, but stopped when she saw that Steve was the next one she was trying to blast away. They both took deep breaths, looking at each other until they heard struggling not too far from them.

She leaned up against one of the many abandoned cars and looked up at the portal, taking deep breaths from how tired she was now. "Cap," She spoke through ragged breaths. "None of this is going to mean a damn thing if we don't close that portal."

Steve looked up at the portal, feeling the same worry as her. "Our biggest gun couldn't touch it." He said shaking his head.

"Well," Natasha sighed out. "Maybe it's not about guns."

He looked to her with wide eyes, knowing exactly what she was saying. "If you wanna get up there, you're gonna need a ride."

Natasha looked up and saw Aphrodite flying close by. "I've got a ride. I could use a boost, though."

Steve brought his shield in front of him, taking a huge breath. "You sure about this?" He said with concern.

Natasha looked up again and saw Aphrodite flying their way, able to hear the conversation that had just happened. "Yeah," She told him with a shrug. "It's gonna be fun."

That's when they both took a deep breath before she ran forward, jumping up on the hood of one of the cars for leverage before jumping up on Steve's shield and grabbing onto Aphrodite's hands who caught her as she was flying by.

Steve continued to watch them both, just wanting to know she was going to be okay until he was disrupted by the sound of metal being torn off. But was distracted by a blast aimed at him.

* * *

Aphrodite dropped Natasha onto one of the Chitauri ships and Natasha pulled herself onto the alien's aircraft, taking out the one standing guard in no time, throwing him off. With all of her might, she continued to crawl to the one driving it, feeling the wind resistance was the hardest thing out of all of this.

Once she got to a standing position, she knew she wasn't going to stay like that for long. She jumped on the alien's back, plunging daggers into its neck. With that, she was able to control it, getting right into its programming. The only problem was that she had no idea how to control it. "Turn." She pleaded, not even sure how to do that, trying to lean the way she wanted to turn, but she was only getting closer to running into a building. "Turn, turn, turn, turn!"

The leaning was working and she only grazed the building she was about to hit, causing her to take a deep breath of relief. Yet, she wasn't going by unnoticed by the other aliens. She looked back, not sure what to do until Tony whizzed by, taking out the Chitauri right behind her before flying ahead.

Steve took down one of the aliens near him as Tony blast shot away they rest. Then they both got an idea as Steve put out his shield and Tony used the thrusters, sending the beam into a group of aliens, taking them down with almost no effort then Tony flew off.

Tony hit as many aliens as possible, watching them trying to climb up one of the many buildings. He flew past Clint as he took care of the rest of the aliens climbing up the building that Tony couldn't get. Clint stood up from his crouch position, getting an eye on the aircraft that was following Aphrodite as she flew past him with more than just that one following her. He strung up his bow, making his aim perfect before firing off the arrow, taking down that one aircraft with just that.

Clint smiled as the eel type creature flew by, but he wasn't worried about it. Hulk and Thor were on it, tearing the ship apart along with killing every alien who tried to come into contact with them. The Hulk ripped off a piece of the snake, stabbing it right in the back as Thor called the lightening, bringing his hammer down on it.

It began to lose control, falling into Grand Central Station, sending everyone in there into a panicked frenzy. It slid across the floor until it came to a stop. Both Thor and the Hulk stood there for a moment after getting off of the eel. The two were trying to catch their breath, looking at the damage they had caused.

The Hulk couldn't get rid of his last bit of anger, though. He looked over at Thor, knowing he'd be able to take it. He simply pushed his fist out, sending Thor flying back into the other end of the station, but the Hulk didn't think twice about it huffing with a grin.

* * *

Dr. Selvig pushed himself up, feeling the control wearing off and the guilt begin to set in. He looked around at all the explosions, only beginning to imagine the death toll on the city by now. His mouth dropped in horror, not being able to shake off the feeling that he was responsible for this. If it wasn't for him, Loki wouldn't know what to do with the Tesseract. He could have stopped this, but now, he was forced to look at all the damage he had done.

* * *

Everything that specialized in protecting people were on the streets of New York, trying their best to get people off the streets and help the Avengers. And all the Avengers appreciated it greatly, but there wasn't much they could do now.

"Cap." Clint's voice came through the radio. "The bank on 42nd past Madison. They cornered a lot of civilians in there."

Steve put his finger to the radio in his ear, still out of breath, but knowing that protecting people was what he signed up to do. "I'm on it."

The Chitauri stood on the upper portion of the bank, pointing their weapons down at all the civilians who cried and watched on in fear. One of the aliens took a device that would blow up the whole place and began to set it just Steve burst through the window.

There was the rapid beeping of the bomb in the background as Steve hurled the shield at the back of one of the Chitauri's head. The other one with it growled at him, shooting off its spear as he dove for cover landing in front of a desk, kicking it forward, sending down one of the Chitauri. He got up from his spot and quickly approached one and snapped its neck before tossing it down onto the lower portion of the bank.

"Everyone, clear out!" He said over the railing, looking down at everyone below him.

He was suddenly hit from behind and fell against the railing, then there was a sound of glass breaking and Aphrodite appeared behind the Chitauri her arm wrapping around its neck forcing it to stagger backwards, the she reached her hand into the back of its neck ripping out some of its wiring, that didn't stop the alien as it reached back and grabbed a handful of her hair pulling and flipping her over its shoulder to its front.

She jabbed at it with her elbow then squirmed out of its grip just as Steve was back on his feet and kicked at it before turning it around and using it as a shield to take the shots fired from the one remaining Chitauri.

Steve looked over at Aphrodite as the remaining Chitauri scrambled to pick up the ticking bomb. Steve raced over to her and grabbed her around the waist just as the Chitauri threw the bomb in their direction.

His shield took most of the impact of the bomb but the force of it sent them flying out the window, the ground swallowed them both as they landed thanks to her powers. Seconds later they were back onto solid ground and Steve couldn't hold back the shudder at the sensation he had just felt.

"Please never do that again." Steve told her breathlessly.

"Sorry." She replied. "You owe me."

"Who's keeping count?"

"I am." Aphrodite responded before she took off leaving him to stare after her again.

* * *

Fury was speaking to the Council, the conversation only getting more heated the more destruction that came to New York. "Director Fury," the councilwoman spoke. "The Council has made a decision."

"I recognize that the council has made a decision, but given that it's a stupid decision, I've elected to ignore it." Fury responded agitated.

"Director," They both turned over to the councilman on the right. "You are closer than any of our subs. You scramble that jet –"

"That is the island of Manhattan, Councilman!" Fury snapped. Maria was breathing heavily at what she was hearing. They wanted to destroy New York and all the people in it. The Avengers. "Until I'm certain my team cannot hold it, I will not order a nuclear strike against the civilian population!"

"Director," He spoke in a commanding voice, causing making Fury glare at him. "If we don't hold them in the air, we lose everything."

"I'd send the bird out that we already have." He spoke angrily before shutting off their line of communication

* * *

Natasha continued her ride on the back of the alien driving its aircraft when a blue energy whizzed past them. When she looked back, she began to roll her eyes at his stupid antlers. "Oh, you." He was catching up her on his own version of all the other alien's vehicles, sending off more blasts in her direction. These weren't just any blasts. These were from the sceptre. "Hawkeye!"

Clint looked over to the direction she was in, but he had to blink a couple of times at the sight of his best friend riding an alien vehicle. "Nat," He spoke in a sceptical voice. "What are you doing?"

"Uh," She spoke uneasily, glancing back at Loki before going back to what was right in front of her. "A little help?"

Clint couldn't help this smile beginning to emerge on his face at what she was asking him. He clicked the button on his bow, knowing the perfect arrow to use for the god. "I got him." He pulled the arrow back, his smile only getting wider, knowing this is the one thing he wanted to do since this whole fight started.

His eyes narrowed, waiting until he was in the perfect spot before sending off his arrow. It flew in the air and it would have hit him perfectly if Loki wouldn't have caught it. But it never was Clint's plan for Loki to get hit with it. As Loki looked back at Clint with a smirk having bested him, then the arrow exploded in his hands, sending him off his aircraft and back onto the Stark Towers balcony.

Loki took a moment to be able to sit back up around all the shards of glass. He threw his head back to get the hair out of his face just in time to see the Hulk jumping at him. He was thrown through the glass windows and into one of the walls, falling to the floor, breathing for help.

Before he could do anything, he looked up with an angry face, the Hulk roaring towards him, only making him angrier. He stood up quickly before the Hulk could even do anything. "Enough!" The Hulk stopped running, looking him up and down, confused by his outburst. "You are – all of you are beneath me! I am a  _god_ , you dull creature!" The Hulk continued to stare at him for a moment, just wanting him to stop talking. "And I will not be bullied by –"

He quickly grabbed him by pulling his legs out from under him. He then rapidly began to throw him from side to side, creating dents in the floor with every time. The throws got even harder the longer they went on until the Hulk got tired of it and left him in one of the dents. The Hulk began to walk off, scoffing as he looked back at the god lying on the ground, gasping for breath. "Puny god."

Loki laid in the rubble of the floor, still not being able to process what had even happened. A weak sound of pain began to linger in his throat, realizing for the first time that he might actually lose this.

* * *

Natasha stood on the roof of Stark Towers, beginning to move towards Dr. Selvig. He was looking down at the balcony of Stark Towers. Natasha moved slowly, not sure if he was still under the control of Loki and if something was going to happen, she wanted to be prepared. He looked up at her and she finally saw that his eyes were no longer the blue Loki was making them. "The sceptre." He spoke in wonderment before looking back down on the balcony.

"Doctor?" Natasha asked, thrown by his comment as she moved to crouch down to his eye level.

He sighed, his face only getting sadder as he looked down at it, not really being able to believe that all of this happened because of him. "Loki's sceptre, the energy." He finally looked back to her. "The Tesseract can't fight. You can't protect against yourself."

Natasha sighed as she looked at him. She hated seeing him like this. She ended up putting one of her hands on his shoulders, looking him right in the eye. "It's not your fault. You didn't know what you were doing."

That's when an idea passed over Dr. Selvig's face. "Actually, I think I did." Natasha turned her head to the side, not sure what he was talking about anymore. "I built in a safety to cut the power source."

Natasha's eyes widened as she turned her head. That's when everything he was saying all clicked. "Loki's sceptre."

"It may be able to close the portal." He told her with a nod before looking back to what his eyes were fixed on before just a floor below him. "And I'm looking right at it."

* * *

Clint shot an arrow off at the closest one to him before reaching in his sack for another arrow. That's when he realized that his last arrow was just used. He looked around panicked, knowing he had to act fast. He pushed back an alien with his bow, before kicking him off the roof. With that borrowed time, he turned to the last alien he took down, pulling the arrow out of its skull and putting it back into his sack.

He clicked a button on his bow, knowing he had to get out of there with all the incoming alien ships. He began to run to the end of the building just as the explosions left a trail behind him before jumping off. Everything seemed to move slower as he spun around while stringing up his bow. He took a deep breath, waiting for the perfect place to let go.

Once he released it, the arrow head attached to the building with a string attached to it. He began to throw his weight down, using the bow to send him down from the sky safely.

* * *

Steve and Aphrodite were back to fighting alongside each other on the ground. The Chitauri warriors' numbers did not seem to end and they both were growing wary quickly.

Aphrodite had a force field up blocking the blasts from the Chitauri weapons while her other hand was shooting blasts of energy at them, she was so focused on her task that she didn't see the one Chitauri approaching from the side with the large gun trained on her, but Steve did and quickly grabbed her about the waist and throwing them both over and behind one of the upturned cars.

Steve hit the ground first absorbing the fall then quickly rolled then over so she was beneath him as shots rocked the car acting as their shield.

"Steve?" Aphrodite spoke breathlessly and then Steve noticed where his head had somehow ended up.

"Sorry." He said quickly moving off her blushing brightly.

"It's alright."

"Where does that put us now?" Steve asked helping her off the ground.

"Even." Aphrodite huffed.

* * *

Once flew by the Leviathan and began blasting the side of it, sighing when he realized it wasn't doing any damage. "Sir," Jarvis spoke. "We're losing power before you penetrate that shell."

Tony flew around it, trying to find out how to get to this thing…when he finally got it. "Jarvis," His words were glowing with excitement. "You ever hear of the Tale of Jonah?"

"I," Jarvis spoke with uneasiness, realizing what his master was going to do. "Wouldn't consider him as a role model."

He circled the beast until he got right in front of it, going right for its mouth. He travelled through it, blasting at every chance he got, taking it apart from the inside, causing it to fully blow up and send him flying into a glass bus stop. He skidded to a stop on the street, struggling to get up, but once he got up, he took a blow by one of the aliens, sending him right back down. And only more began to advance towards him.

* * *

Maria was pounding away on the screen that stood in front of her before looking back to the two in charge. "Sir, we have a bird in motion!" Fury froze in that second. They did it. They were really planning on killing everyone in Manhattan to stop this alien attack. "Anyone on deck, we have a bird in motion!"

Fury took off in the other direction Maria moved forward, bent on stopping it. She began pounding buttons on the screen, locking everything she could to make that trip impossible. "That is a rogue bird! We need to shut it down!"

Fury ran out on the hanger of the helicarrier with an RPG resting on his shoulder, just waiting for the jet. It rushed on the runway right into a prepared Nick Fury. He shot it, the back becoming completely destroyed before skidding to a stop.

He took a moment, feeling relief until another jet took off in the opposite way. There was nothing he could do about it. He pulled out his pistol, ready to shoot, but it was too far away. There would be no damage done to the jet, and it was now headed for the island of Manhattan.

He put her finger to his ear, taking a deep breath before talking. "Stark, do you hear me? We have a missile headed straight for the city."

Tony pushed himself up as the aliens continued their advance towards him. "How long?"

"Three minutes, at best." Fury joined Maria in the control room. "Stay low and wipe it out."

Tony just kept getting hit by the aliens, but he didn't need to worry about them anymore. He had something completely different to worry about. "Jarvis, put everything we've got into the thrusters!"

"I just did, sir." Jarvis reported right as Tony shot off into the sky in search for the missile.

* * *

Right when the jet got in view of the Brooklyn Bridge, the pilot knew it was time to let go of his package. With only the press of the button, he let go of something so destructive, it would kill millions in seconds. "Package is set. Detonation in two minutes and thirty seconds."

* * *

Steve, and Aphrodite now joined by Thor stood around each other, all of them having each other's backs as they fought each alien with their own personal skills. Thor swung his hammer and Steve assassinated all that came his way with his shield, Aphrodite had long since given up on using physical force with the Chitauri in favour of using her magic.

Steve thought he was clear as he moved his shield away from him, but he was immediately shot in his stomach, sending him down. Thor blocked all of their shots with his hammer to get to his friend Aphrodite shot forwards the force field that she was using for protection the same time that Thor kicked over a car taking out the remaining Chitauri.

"Are you ready for another bout?" Thor questioned Steve after helping him up.

Steve smiled to himself as he looked around at the place. "What, you getting sleepy?"

Each of them gave him a slight smile, but as they looked around, they weren't sure how much more they could take.

"That's one more for me." Aphrodite teased the captain smirking slightly.

* * *

Natasha moved forward with Loki's sceptre as Dr. Selvig monitored it on the computer. "Right to the front." He instructed the closer she got.

It took strength for her to even try to break the barrier, but once it got through, she knew she'd be able to take the whole thing down.  _"I can close it."_  She spoke through the radio. " _Can anybody copy? I can shut the portal down."_

Each of them on the ground looked to each other with wide eyes _. "Do it!"_  Steve commanded.

 _"No! Wait!"_  Tony's voice came through,

_"Stark, these things are still coming."_

_"I've got a nuke coming in, it's gonna blow in less than a minute."_ Everyone's eyes widened at the new threat.  _"And I know just where to put it."_

 _"Stark you know that's a one way trip."_ Steve warned him but was met with silence.

"Sir," Jarvis spoke in a solemn voice. "Shall I try Miss. Potts?"

* * *

He looked up at his screen, being able to see the contact picture come up. It was a picture of her smiling, her strawberry blonde hair tied into a professional ponytail, but the best part was her smile. She was reminding him why he was doing this. "Might as well." With all of his speed and the strength he got from seeing Pepper's smiling face, he flew up, past Stark Towers and into the black hole of the portal into space.

Once he and the missile had gotten through, everyone in the SHIELD helicarrier began cheering. Everyone except Fury. Sure, it was a win, but they lost Tony from this win. So, to them, they weren't winning much.

Tony's suit began to shut down once he was in space and his picture of Pepper went away. Since the suit was shutting down, his arc reactor was shutting down and so was his heart. He let go of the missile and watched as he began to float away from it. He was getting weak as the missile continued to fly through the air, but he was going to stay awake for as long as he could. When the missile finally reached the Chitauri's space station, all of the Chitauri on earth shut down instantly, just leaving their lifeless bodies lying all through the streets.

Once Tony saw the space station blow, he knew he had done his job. Everyone was going to be safe now. That's all he ever wanted. His eyes slowly shut close, finally feeling the peace to fall asleep as his body continued to fall through the air.

All the Avengers were looking up at the portal anxiously, but he was nowhere to be seen. "Come on, Stark." Natasha whispered to herself.

Steve sighed as he saw the explosion from inside the portal, knowing he would never be able to apologize to Tony for everything he said while they were on the helicarrier. Because every bad thing he had ever said about him was proven wrong today _. "Close it."_  Steve spoke with a sigh.

Natasha moved forward, shutting the thing with Loki's sceptre.

Loud noises from the explosion within the portal sounded even down on earth, the just as it began to close out flew the suit of Iron Man.

"Son of a gun." Steve spoke as a smile also grew on his face.

"He did it." Aphrodite spoke in disbelief.

"He's not slowing down." Thor spoke as he began to spin his hammer, ready to fly up to catch him.

Just as he was about to take off, the Hulk jumped through the air, catching him and falling to the ground with Tony lying on his stomach. They all ran to where the Hulk had landed just as he threw Tony off of him, having him land on his back.

Thor rolled over the armour then ripped the mask from Tony's face only to see his eyes shut in peace. The glowing light on his chest from his arc reactor was gone, Tony Stark was dead. He had sacrificed himself.

The Hulk, Bruce Banner was inside of him, not willing to give up on his new friend. The Hulk let out a loud roar, causing the arc reactor to kick back in again, waking up his heart and him. He screamed and let out gasps, everyone sighed with relief as his gasps continued. "What the hell?" He breathed out as the Hulk let out another roar, this time of triumph.

Tony looked back and forth at each of them, still taking deep breaths. "What just happened?" He asked meeting Steve's surprised smile. "Please tell me nobody kissed me."

"We won." Steve spoke almost in disbelief.

Tony let out a relieved sigh as his head fell back. "Alright, hey!" He spoke happily as he opened his eyes again. "Alright, good job, guys." Everyone looked to each other, with wide smiles. "Let's just not come in tomorrow. Let's just take a day." Tony looked over Aphrodite. "You ever try shawarma?"

Aphrodite smiled then shook her head "Well," He spoke as he picked the upper half of his body up to look up. "There's a shawarma joint two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I wanna try it."

"We're not finished yet." Thor reminded, causing them all to look up at Stark Tower. They had almost forgotten about the war criminal.

Tony nodded, but then looked back to Thor. "Then shawarma after."

* * *

Loki pulled himself up onto the steps of Stark Towers, finally getting strength after Hulk treating him like a toy. He let out deep breaths from his weakness before looking over to where he thought someone was staring. That's where he found earth's mightiest heroes. Clint was crouched on the ground, pulling the string on his bow back as he looked at the god. Natasha held his sceptre on the far left next to Thor who gripped his hammer even tighter, knowing that his brother was reckless. Aphrodite stood next to him her hands lowered by her sides but her hands shimmering with the gold of her magic. Steve stood next to her, holding his shield in front of him and Tony stood next to the super soldier their issues with each other finally resolved without saying. And Hulk, he stood behind Tony, ready to treat Loki like a toy again.

Loki looked back and forth at all of them nervously, knowing there was nothing he could do. He was stopped by the Avengers. And the best thing he could do now was to go quietly. "It it's all the same to you." Loki spoke while looking over at Tony with a slight smile. "I'll have that drink now."

The Hulk let out a growl as the rest of the six just stared him down.


	22. Chapter 22

Hours later the new odd group of friends were led by Tony Stark to the Shawarma restaurant that was somehow still standing even after the battle.

“Table for seven please.” Tony politely spoke to the hostess who was sweeping up the store. She stares incredulously at the colourful group in front of her before sighing and nodding to the table in the middle of the store.

Tony ordered for everyone since he was the only one who had any idea of what was served.

Once the food was brought it they all sat in complete silence, except for Thor's enthusiastic eating, Aphrodite was next to him leaning her head on his shoulder nearly falling asleep but was jostled every few moments and picked at her plate. Tony on Thor’s other side at their round table, and he was also eating, his expression thoughtful as he chewed his mouthful of food. Bruce sat beside him, nibbling at his portion.

Steve sat beside Thor, leaning on his fist tiredly, as he picked at his food, Natasha was beside him, and then Clint, none of them even bothering to try to eat. Clint had his legs propped up on Natasha's chair.

* * *

 

Fury stood in a private room where he could talk to the World Security Council about defying their orders and saving the whole world. "Where are the Avengers?" The councilman straightened up as he asked that question.

"I'm not currently tracking their whereabouts." Fury told them. "I'd say they earned a leave of absence."

Some of the council members rolled their eyes at her response before one of them asked, "And the Tesseract?"

"The Tesseract is where it belongs. Out of our reach."

"That's not your call." The councilwoman argued.

"I didn't make it." Fury told her with a shrug. "I just didn't argue with the Gods that did."

One of the councilmen grabbed his temples, beginning to rub them. "So, you let them take it and the war criminal, Loki, who should be answering for his crime."

"I don't think you know what you started." The councilwoman told them angrily. "Letting the Avengers loose on this world. They're dangerous."

"They sure are." Fury told her with a shrug. "And the whole world knows it. Every world knows it."

"Was that the point in all this?" The councilman on the end asked, causing both of them to turn with smirks on their faces. "A statement?"

Fury shook his head with a smile. "A promise." The video conference faded to black.

* * *

 

SHIELD agents stood around central park and watched as Aphrodite led Loki to the centre with her hand tightly gripping his shoulder. Thor followed close behind and the others behind him.

Tony opened up the box as Dr. Selvig got close to him with the only case in the world that would be able to handle the Tesseract. Bruce got a pair of tongs to get the cube out of its box.

Thor took the case once the Tesseract was safely inside. He looked to Dr. Selvig, clapping his shoulder, glad that he was as normal as he could be after a god controlled his brain. He then turned to look at all of his new friends with a sad smile. Even though they had only known each other for a few days and for most of those days they were arguing, he already felt so close to them. He wanted to stay, but he knew that he would meet all of them again.

Thor moved to his brother as the rest of them created a circle around the two. Loki was staring down STRIKE Team: Delta and the one whose mind he had controlled. Natasha leaned in and whispered something into the archer's ear, and though Clint wore sunglasses you could he his delight at what Natasha had just told him as he stared back at Loki.

His defiant stare broke when Aphrodite moved in front of the archer to bid him goodbye followed by the redhead.

“Glad to have you back.” Clint said.

“Glad to have _you_ back.” Aphrodite said in response and he smirked, “And if you ever need me again, give a shout. I’ll be listening.” Clint smiled and accepted her hug then she shook hands with Natasha.

“Take care.” The redhead said to her.

Aphrodite thanked her then turned her attention to where Steve was glaring at the case which housed the Tesseract.

“Where does that put us now?” Steve questioned.

“I think I’m up, but who’s keeping count?”

“Are you gonna come back?” Steve said while unconsciously brushing his hair to the side. “Maybe we’ll get even?”

“Perhaps one day, in the meantime keep an eye on the skies.” Steve gave a crooked smile and shook hands with her, her smaller hand being engulfed by his and he gently ran his thumb across the back of her hand without even realizing.

“Sister,” Thor said coming over and interrupting causing them to release each other’s hand. “It’s time to go.” She nodded and Thor left.

Aphrodite gave one more nod to the Captain before moving to where Thor forced Loki to grab hold of the other end of the Tesseract case, she then grabbed a hold of Thor's hand which also held Mjolnir then gave Loki the option and held out her other hand in his direction which he stared at for a moment then grabbed on with his other shackled hand. Thor gave a nod to their friends then twisted the case which contained the tesseract which opened up a portal, sending them back into space as everyone stepped back watching them go.

* * *

 

Fury stood staring out the window of the helicarrier. "Sir," He turned slightly to Maria's voice. "How does it work now? They've gone their separate ways. Some pretty extremely far." He nodded, already knowing the answer to that question. "If we get into a situation like this again, what happens then?"

"They'll come back." Fury told her with a simple shrug.

"Are you sure about that?"

Fury nodded, really smiling for the first time in a while. "I am."

Her head turned to the side, obviously not seeing what the other two were. "Why?"

"Because we'll need them to." Fury told her simply. With that, Maria understood. She nodded, a slight smile on her face, now believing in the Avengers Initiative just as much as Fury did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thor the Dark World won't be starting until Monday, a couple of last minute edits being made.


	23. Chapter 23

_"Long before the birth of light, there was darkness. And from that darkness, came the Dark Elves. Millennia ago, most ruthless of their kind, Malekith, sought to transform our universe back into one of eternal night. "_

_"Such evil was possible through the power of the Aether; an ancient force of infinite destruction."_

_A dark elf named Algrim approaches his leather, Malekith. "Malekith, the Asgardians attack," Algrim informed in Elvish._

_"The noble armies of Asgard, led by my father King Bor, waged a mighty war against these creatures. As the nine worlds converged above him, Malekith could at least unleash the Aether. "_

_"But Asgard ripped the weapon from his grasp. Without it, the Dark Elves fell. With the battle all but lost, Malekith sacrificed his own people, in a desperate attempt to lay waste to Asgard's army."_

_"Through their sacrifice we will survive. It will not be in vain," Malekith said to Algrim. Malekith then boards one of their spaceships with Algrim, and leaves his army to their fate._

_"Malekith was vanquished and the Aether was no more. Or so we were led to believe…"_

_"Sire, the Aether. Shall we destroy it?" A soldier approached King Bor. "If only we could, but it's power is too great. Bury it deep, somewhere no one will ever find it," King Bor ordered._

* * *

 

Loki stands before the Allfather in shackles binding his hands and feet and even one around his neck to face punishment for his crimes on Midgard. "Loki," Frigga breathed out in a mix of shock and relief.

"Hello mother. Have I made you proud?" Loki greeted.

"Please, don't make this worse," Frigga pleaded with him, her right hand fiddling with the fingers of her left. A nervous tick that three of the five family members shared.

"Define worse?" Loki shot back.

"Enough! I will speak to the prisoner alone," Odin's voice boomed. When Frigga exits the throne room Loki steps forward and laughs.

"I really don't see what all the fuss is about."

"Do you not truly feel the gravity of your crimes?" Odin questioned, "Where ever you go there is war, ruin and death."

"I went down to Midgard to rule the people of Earth as a benevolent God. Just like you," Loki smirked ever so slightly towards the end.

"We are not Gods. We are born, we live, we die. Just as humans do," Odin denied.

"Give or take 5,000 years," Loki shot back with an innocent smile.

"All this because Loki desired, a throne," Odin said more so to himself.

"It is my birth right!" Loki bitterly spat out.

"Your birth right, was to die!" Odin raised his voice before calming down again, "As a child. Cast out onto a frozen rock. If I had not taken you in you would not be here now to hate me."

"If I'm for the axe then for Mercy's sake, just swing it," Loki pleaded, "It's not that I don't love our little talks it's just, I don't love them."

"Frigga and Aphrodite are the only reasons you're still alive, and you'll never see them again. You'll spend the rest of your days in the dungeon," Odin sentenced.

Loki stared at him with a gaped mouth as he was tugged back a couple steps by the guards holding his chains. "And what of Thor? You'll make that witless oaf King while I rot in chains?"

"Thor must strive to undo the damage you have done. He and Aphrodite will bring order to the nine realms and then, yes, Thor will be King," Odin answered looking to be a bit proud.

* * *

 

On Vanaheim, Sif and the Warriors Three are fighting Marauders when Thor and Aphrodite via Bifrost arrived.

Thor leaped into the air before coming down and striking the ground with his hammer.

The blow to the ground sent out a blast of energy, taking down the Marauders surrounding them. "I've got this completely under control," Sif snapped at him.

"Is that why everything's on fire?" Aphrodite teased with a smile.

The fight raged on with everyone taking on their fair share of the Marauders.

While Thor had his back turned one aimed and fired an arrow at him. Sif then stops the arrow aimed at Thor with her shield and gives said man a pointed look. "You're welcome," Sif rhetorically said.

Everything was soon interrupted as a roar sounds in the distance. A huge rock troll approaches as the fighting ceases. One of the Asgardians step forward to take down the beast, but they are quickly swatted away like a mere fly and the Marauders cheer.

At seeing this Sif turns her attention to Thor, "All yours."

Thor shoots her a look before taking a deep breath and walking forward. At seeing him approach the troll smashes a club on the ground and lets out another mighty roar.

"Hello," Thor pauses as the troll roars again, "I accept your surrender." All this gains him in response is laughter. Thor smiles as well for a moment before growing serious and silencing the laughter by swinging Mjolnir then easily smashing the troll. "Anyone else?" Thor asked rhetorically.

The only response he gets this time is the Marauders laying down their arms and surrendering.

"Maybe next time we should start with the big one?" Aphrodite called out to the others.

"Where do we go next?" Hogun questioned after Aphrodite had pulled him away from the surrendering Marauders to join Thor.

"Hogun the peace is nearly won, across the Nine Realms." Thor started.

"You should stay here, be with your people, where your heart is. Asgard can wait." Aphrodite told him gently.

Hogun smiled wide but tried to suppress it as he shook hands with Thor. "You have my thanks."

"And you have ours." Thor told him, Aphrodite hugged the quiet warrior and kissed his cheek then stood watching with Thor as he left, before looking up at the sky and its watchman. "Heimdall when you’re ready." He spook and soon they were both enveloped in the Bifrost's light again.

* * *

 

Having returned back to Asgard Thor stands beside Odin and Aphrodite on his other side on a balcony, overlooking the training yard where soldiers are practicing with various weapons.

"Is Vanaheim secure?" Odin questioned.

"As are Nornheim and Ria." Aphrodite told him.

"But our work would have gone more quickly with you at the fore," Thor added.

"You must think I'm a piece of bread, that needs to be buttered so heavily," Odin commented jokingly.

"That was not my intent," Thor smiled.

"For the first time since the Bifrost was destroyed, the Nine Realms are at peace. We are well reminded of our strength and you have earned their respect and my gratitude," Odin said.

"Thank you," They both nodded, Thor with a distant look in his eyes.

"Nothing out of order except your confused and distracted heart," Odin pointed out.

"This isn't about Jane Foster, Father," Thor denied.

"Humans lives are fleeting. They're nothing. You'll be better served by what lies in front of you," Odin indicates to Sif in training, who in turn meets their gazes, "I'm telling you this not as the Allfather, but as your Father. You are ready. The time has come to take the Throne. Embrace it and celebrate what you have won. Join your warriors, eat and drink. Revel in their celebration. At least pretend to enjoy yourselves."

“Thank you father.” Thor said humbly.

“Your welcome my son.” He responded then turned to Aphrodite who had gone silent. “If you would please, I would like to have a word with your sister.”

Thor nodded and straightened up before placing his hand on the side of Aphrodite’s neck affectionately and she in turn patted his side. A sign of comfort that had become common for the two over the past few years as their relationship grew ever closer.

“You are not pleased with my decision?” Odin questioned after a moment of silence. “You knew that it couldn’t be any other way.”

“Did I?” Aphrodite huffed. “I was under the impression that you would have a discussion with the council, at the very least to consider it.”

“I did all that I could, my child. The council could not be swayed. And I have broken far too many rules in your favour over many years.”

Aphrodite gave a dry smirk. “Is that remorse I hear?”

“Certainly not, I have never regretted any decision that I’ve made in regards to you. Which is why I made the suggestion that as soon as Thor takes the throne, you are to serve as his chief advisor. And you yourself would lead the council.”

“And their response?”

“They’re considering the proposition.”

“That means it’s not going to happen.” She said as she turned to leave. “Excuse me father.”

“For what it’s worth,” Odin’s voice stopped her. “Your brother spoke in your favour. He wanted you to rule alongside him.”

“Loki?”

“Thor.”

* * *

 

Later that night Thor sits silent in a tavern watching his comrades celebrate round him. His sister had already left some time ago, he knew that she had grew weary of the after-battle merriments, as has he. Volstagg throws an empty mug of ale to the ground and demands another!' with a roar of laughter. This causes a sad, affectionate smile to cross Thor's face before he moves to the balcony, where Sif stands alone. He almost walks past her but stops when she speaks up, "There was a time when you would celebrate for weeks."

"I remember you celebrating the battle of Haragon so much that you nearly started a second," Thor shot back leaning his arms on the railing.

"Well the first was so much fun," Sif jokes. The two smile fondly at the memory.

"Take a drink with me. Surely the Allfather can have no further task with you tonight?" Sif requests after a moment of silence.

"This is one I set myself," Thor denies.

"It does not go unnoticed that you disappear each night. There are nine realms. The future King of Asgard must focus on more than one," Sif advices.

"I thank you for your sword and for your counsel, good Lady Sif," Thor sends her a small, forced smile. As Thor walks away Sif stares after him sadly.


	24. Chapter 24

"Loki?" Aphrodite questioned upon appearing in Loki's cell and seeing the illusion that he had cast of himself claiming the throne, the only problem was he was clothed in a red cape and wielding Mjölnir. "What are you doing?"

"I'm giving the people what they want." Loki said turning slightly to face her.

"And does all this make you feel better?"

"It certainly doesn't make me feel worse." He snapped.

"You cast enough illusions and you risk forgetting what is real."

"Precisely." He said then the illusion simmered then faded. "You do realize that you have been forbidden from seeing me?" He spoke condescendingly.

"As has mother, but has that stopped either of us?" Aphrodite shot back.

"No I suppose it hasn't." Loki said while turning to face her. "But mother was a mere projection. You really are here." He took a step closer. "How?"

"My magic hasn't been bound to this cell and mother doesn't want to risk father's wrath if he finds out."

"But you will." Loki concluded.

"I miss you." Aphrodite said instead of giving him a true response.

Loki's lip twitched. "To what do I own the pleasure of the visit today?"

"I was bored. Thor's left Asgard and mother and father are busy. So there's no one here to indulge me in a proper game." She waved her hand and a chess board appeared.

Loki smirked. "Perhaps now we shall have a proper game."

"Perhaps." Loki sat on the edge of his bed an

* * *

d Aphrodite sat in the chair that was in his cell.

"Ladies first." Loki held out his hands to the board and Aphrodite made the first move.

"I hear talks that Thor is to take the throne."

"You hear talks?" Aphrodite asked suspiciously.

"Father all but boasted that his eldest son was to take the throne in time."

She rolled her eyes and moved another piece. "You know he just does it to spite you."

Loki hummed and moved. "Do you think him ready?"

Aphrodite thought for a moment. "I think he's more ready than he was the last time. But, he has a ways to go before he's truly ready to rule." She said honestly.

"And what of you?"

"I am to head the council, as his lead advisor."

"Have you not even been considered for the throne?"

"You know that I haven't."

"Why?" Loki pressed.

"Loki." Aphrodite sighed. "Please we've been through this before, several times."

"If your father new of the good you could do for the realms-" Loki began to say but she cut him off.

"Father does know." She cut him off. He has already broken too many rules in my favour." She repeated then took a breath. "I'm sorry." She shook her head. "It can't happen."

"I would have had you rule at my side."

"Loki." she said softly.

"Sister."

"Checkmate." Loki looked down and breathed a laugh seeing that indeed she had beaten him.

"Again." He said and begin resetting the board.

Aphrodite grinned then was about to make the first move but suddenly paused turning her head to the side as if she was listening to something.

Loki glanced up and did a slight double take, not recognising the look on her face.

"What is it?"

"I don't know," she responded shaking her head. "Something's here, I can feel it." She looked back at him. "I have to go."

Loki nodded, disappointed but he understood why she had to leave and with a sharp crack she did just that.

* * *

 

"Well this is a surprise." Aphrodite spoke after finding locating the source of what she'd felt, surprised to find that it was Jane Foster.

"Sister." Thor said as he left Jane side and gave her a small hug. "I've been searching for you."

"I can see that." Aphrodite said sarcastically. "Care to explain?" She said gesturing to Jane.

He nodded. "Jane," He called out extending his hand and Jane scurried up to him. "Aphrodite you remember Jane-"

"Foster, of course. Not easy to forget the woman that man such a deeming impression on my brother. It's good to see you again."

"It's good to see you too." Jane said shyly.

"What's going on?" Aphrodite asked of her oldest brother.

"Something is within her sister. Heimdall could not see her so I went to earth to find her. Whatever it is it attacked the people there." Aphrodite listened intently at Thor's brief but loaded explanation. "Do you think you could take a look?"

"Of course. Jane," Aphrodite called softly to the smaller woman holding out her hand, and after an encouraging look from Thor she took it. "It's alright, trust me." Aphrodite said soothingly before she held up her other hand and her eye went gold as she used her magic to look within the other's woman's mind.

Immediately she was greeted by a blockage which took a beat for her to push past and once she did she felt an overwhelming surge of old, dark magic that was so strong she reeled back with a shout as she was forcibly pushed from Jane's mind.

"Aphrodite," Thor was by her side right away running his hand over the back of her head. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." She said looking back to Jane in shock. "We need to get her to the healing room, now."

* * *

 

Jane was taken in the infirmary with little protest after she had seen what she'd inadvertently done to Aphrodite. So she found herself lying flat on the table with healers surrounding her. An orange wave of energy field around her. They studied the energy field to determine the cause of her illness. Jane pointed at the thick mass of it floating above her.

"What's that?" Jane asked curiously watching as the mass moved as she moved.

"Be still, please," the head healer, Eir, instructed, tapping her quick fingers against the orange keypad.

Meanwhile, Thor was standing nearby talking with Aphrodite who was sipping on a brew to regain a bit of strength.

"This is not of earth. What is it?" Thor questioned.

"I don't know. But she will not survive the amount of energy surging within her."

Thor clenched his jaw both in anger and in fear. Anger because he felt somehow responsible for Janes current state, and fear because he didn't want to lose her again, after he just reunited with her.

"That's a quantum field generator, isn't it?" Jane asked in breathless realization.

"It's a soul forge," Eir explained, while working.

Jane shrugged, "Does the soul forge transfer molecular energy from one place to another?"

Eir paused her work, gazing down at Jane with a raised brow. She seemed impressed, "Yes."

Jane turned her head to the siblings, smiling in a whisper, "Quantum field generator." She said nodding as much as her position allowed.

Thor smiled back genuinely while Aphrodite gave an amused shake of her head at the woman's behaviour. Unfortunately, sweet moment came to a halt by an unwelcomed voice.

"My words are mere noises to you that you ignore them completely."

Thor's smile dropped as their father entered the room.

"She is ill," Aphrodite argued.

"She is a mortal," Odin retorted. "Illness is their defining trait."

Eir walked away from the table in respect for the king, making the soul forge disappear.

"I brought her here so we can help her," Thor continued.

"She does not belong here in Asgard any more than a goat belongs in a banquet table."

Jane sat upright from the table, offended by Odin's words.

"Excuse me?!" Jane snapped as she glared at Odin. "Just who the hell do you think you are?!"

"I am Odin," the king introduced himself. "King of Asgard. Protector of the Nine Realms."

Jane snapped her jaw shut, widening her eyes in alarm, knowing that she just blew her first impression on Thor's father but also because she just mouthed off to a real live king.

"Well... Well, I'm-"

"We know very well who you are," Odin interrupted. "Jane Foster."

Jane blinked, and glance back at her boyfriend, "You told your dad about me?"

Thor ignored her question to continue arguing with his father, "Something is within her, father. Something we have not seen before."

"Her world has its healers. They are called 'doctors', let them deal with her." Odin motioned his guards to come forth, "Guards, take her back to Midgard."

"No I wouldn't-" Aphrodite tried to warn the guards but they ignored but she and Thor's protests reaching out to grab Jane's arms, and the energy of the Aether inside her lashed out throwing the two guards across the room. "Touch her." Aphrodite finished.

Thor rushed to Jane, and cradled her head carefully, "Jane, are you alright?"

The action of the blast had Odin rushing to Thor and Jane, running a hand over Jane's arms. Seeing the red energy course her veins, "That's impossible." The king muttered.

"The infection... it's defending her," Eir stated with amazement.

"No," Aphrodite disagreed from where she was standing above Jane's head. "It's defending itself."

* * *

 

"Come with me." Odin said motioning for Thor to help Jane from the table and he led the three of them from the healing room."There are relics..." Odin began as he led the three of them into the Great Library. "That pre-date the universe itself. What lies within her appears to be one of them. Nine realms are not eternal. They had a dawn and they'll have a dusk."

Odin led them to a table that contained one of the many tomes that the library held. He opened it to a page which showed a moving image of runes turned 360 degrees.

"But before that dawn, the dark forces, the dark elves..." He turned a page to show pictures of the tall dark clothed figures with pointy ears. The Dark Elves. "Reigned absolute and unchallenged."

"Born of eternal night," Thor recited. "The dark elves come to steal away the light. I know those stories, mother told them to us as children." He said as he leaned over the book.

"Their leader," Odin went onto explain. "He made a weapon out of that darkness called the Aether. While the other relics appear as stones. The Aether is fluid and ever changing. It changes matter into dark matter. It seeks out host bodies, drawing strength from their life force. Malekith sought to use the Aether's powers to return the universe to one of darkness," He turned page to show another picture of an elf. Malekith. Above it were golden lines that slowly changed black. "But after an eternities of bloodshed, my father - Bor – finally triumphed ushering in a peace that lasted thousands of years."

"What happened?" Jane asked.

"He killed them all." Odin responded firmly.

"Are you certain?" Aphrodite questioned. "You the aether was destroyed along with the Dark Elves and yet here it is." She said gesturing to Jane.

Odin gazed up at daughter with assurance, "The Dark Elves, are dead."

"Does your book happen to mention how to get it out of me?" Jane asked nervously.

Odin turned to Jane, shaking his head, "No. It does not." He slammed the book shut and walked away, leaving the library and the three of them alone.

"Jane," Aphrodite said breaking the silence that had settled between them as she moved around the table to stand next to the smaller woman, "Why don't you come with me, and we'll get you cleaned up and into something more suitable for Asgard."

"Yeah, alright. Sure." Jane said nodding as she took Aphrodite's offered hand.

Aphrodite began leading her away when Thor called out. "Aphrodite." She turned and he gave her a look of warning.

"I'll behave." Aphrodite shot back then led Jane out of the library and immediately teleported them into her chambers.

"Woah." Jane said slightly stumbling as they appeared in the extravagant room.

"It'll pass." Aphrodite's hand twitched in the air as she produced a goblet of water and handed it to Jane.

"Thanks." Jane took a few gulps then looked around the room. "Oh my god. This is your room." She said gazing around. "You live here?"

"Yes I do." Aphrodite said with pride. "Come, the closet's over here."

"This place is than my entire apartment." Jane said in awe.

"Is that a compliment?" Aphrodite asked her.

"What? Yes of course."

"Oh, then thank you." Aphrodite said taking a seat. "You can just go ahead and pick out anything that you'd like."

"Really?" Aphrodite nodded. "I'm not sure that'll your stuff will fit me." She said gesturing to their significant height difference as well as Aphrodite's curves.

"I'll make it work." Aphrodite assured her.

A short while later Jane had picked out a pretty but simple golden gown.

"You like that one?" Aphrodite asked just to make sure.

"Yes, it's beautiful."

"Then let's get you into it." Aphrodite said standing.

"Okay, is there somewhere that I can change?" Jane questioned innocently.

Aphrodite breathed a slight laugh. "No need." Before Jane could question her Aphrodite waved her hand and golden simmer enveloped the smaller woman from head to toe, when it faded, she was wrapped in the gold silk.

"That was cool." Jane said stunned while looking down at herself.

"I'm glad you're impressed." Aphrodite said smiling. "Come, we should be getting back to my brother." Jane nodded and together they left her chambers.


	25. Chapter 25

"Sister." Thor breathed out as they approached him where he stood on one of Asgard's many balconies.

"I told you I would be good." Aphrodite told him letting go of Jane and letting Thor embrace her. "Jane you look lovely."

"Thank you." Jane said shyly looking down. Thor smiled down at her gently then led her onto the balcony that he was previously occupying.

"You seem pleased with yourself." Aphrodite hears her mother's voice from behind her.

"I am. I've never seen him this way."

Frigga approached her from behind. "Your time will come my dear." She said running a soothing hand up her back. "Come, I think it's time I met the maiden that has your brother so enthralled. Don't you?" Frigga said grabbing Aphrodite by the hand and led her to the balcony with a small smile.

". . . my father doesn't know everything."

"Don't let him hear you say that." Frigga spoke by way of announcing her presence.

Thor immediately straightened from his position hunched over the balconies railing. "Jane Foster please meet Frigga, the Queen of Asgard, and my mother." Thor introduced.

Embarrassed Jane quickly pulls her hand out of Thor's and mumbled out a quick. "Hi." To the queen.

* * *

Loki is in his cell thinking back to his talk with his sister while tossing a chess piece from their game in the air and catching it when a sudden loud commotion from the cells further down makes him sit up curiously and pocket the piece.

From of the cell the prisoners are panicking and shouting for help while banging their fists against their cell's energy shield there is suddenly an explosion from inside the cell, killing all the inmates inside. All that is left in the cell is a man with amour clothing and a horned mask, Kurse. He picks up the only surviving inmate and uses him to smash his way through the energy shield. That's when the palace alarm goes off.

Two guards rush to stop him but he simply lifts them by their throats and burns them with his hands. He then goes on to release many of the other prisoners from their cells.

Then Kurse approaches Loki's cell and stands on the other side of the barrier while Loki gives him a long, predatory stare. After a long moment he decides to not release him and turned to find his way into the palace. "You might want to take the stairs to the left," Loki advises. At the advice he stops and considers Loki's words before following the advice.

* * *

Frigga smiles and is about to address her with the alarm sounds. "The prisons." Frigga muttered.

"Loki." Aphrodite said, and Thor looked back at them.

"Go, we will look after her." Frigga assured him and Thor nodded running then jumping off the edge of the balcony catching Mjölnir as it flew by.

* * *

Fandral and Volstagg had appeared and joined the battle while Loki sat in his cell quietly reading despite the carnage outside.

"It's as if they resent being in prison!" Fandral grunts out.

"There's no pleasing some creatures!" Volstagg yells back.

"Return to your cells and no further harm will come to you. You have my word," Thor promises the prisoners when he lands on the steps of the prisons. He turns his head to the right only to have one of them punch him in the face. "Very well, you do not have my word." He then joins in on the fight, laying waste to all prisoners in his path.

* * *

"Odin!" Frigga stopped the journey to her chamber upon seeing her husband.

"Frigga." Odin breathed. "Go!" He shouted to the guards. "Just a scrimmage, nothing to worry about."

"You've never been a good liar." Frigga teased.

"Take them to your chambers. I'll come for you when it's safe." Odin told him wife then turned to Aphrodite. "Watch over them."

"Always."

"You take care." Both Frigga and Aphrodite told him in sync.

"Despite all that I have survived, the women in my life, still worry over me." Odin said placing a comfortingly hand on Frigga's cheek.

"It's because we worry over you that you have survived." Frigga told him then turned and began leading Jane and Aphrodite away. "Listen to me now," Frigga began telling Jane. "I need you to do everything that I ask, no questions."

"Yes ma'am." Jane responded instantly.

* * *

Once all the prisoners have been re-captured or subdued when the palace starts to shudder and dirt rains down in the prisons from above.

Thor out of habit looks to see Loki's response who stares back a blank but slightly anxious look on his face.

Meanwhile, Odin enters the Throne Room and surveys the damage and carnage done. Malekith has already moved on, and the floor is scattered with remains of Asgardian and Dark Elf alike. It is then he's struck with a realization as to where Malekith might be heading. "Frigga," Odin breathes out worriedly.

Malekith has found his was to Frigga's chamber. As they hear him approaching the great doors, Jane stands fearful and rushes to Frigga's side.

Frigga places herself before Jane with Aphrodite by her side as they stare at Malekith as Jane moves further away "Stand down, creatures." Frigga warns him.

"And you may still survive this." Aphrodite finishes.

"I have survived worse, women," Malekith calmly replies.

"Who are you?" Frigga questions.

"I am Malekith, and I would have what is mine," Malekith responds staring back at Jane. He approaches Frigga and Aphrodite share a look then glances back to Jane and understands what it is Malekith wants. Jane seems to understand this as well as she scuttles further back.

As he comes closer Frigga strikes him across the face with her sword causing him to draw his own. Aphrodite is quick to disarm him by knocking the sword from his hand.

Malekith obviously not excepting such fight from the women, has to know dodge strikes from Frigga's swords as well as from Aphrodite as they engage in a small hand to hand battle.

Malekith is beaten when Frigga pins him to a column with her sword to his throat. It's at that moment though that Kurse comes up from behind harshly knocking Aphrodite to the ground and keeping her there with his foot. He then disarms Frigga and lifts her into the air pressing her own sword against her back as a warning. Taking advantage of this opportunity Malekith approaches Jane.

"You have something, child. Give it back," Malekith demands. He reaches out to Jane, but when he does she dissolves. Realizing she's nothing but a projection he turns his attention back to mother and daughter, who simply smile in return. "Witches! Where is the Aether!" Malekith roars approaching her again.

"I'll never tell," Frigga grunts out in determination.

"I believe you," Malekith responds calmly.

It's then that Kurse slides the sword into her back and Aphrodite chokes on a sob with eyes wide as he mother fell to the floor and that Thor enters the room. He cried out as soon, as soon as he takes in the sight before him.

Enraged Thor sends a burst of lightning from, strike Malekith in the face, instantly blackening one side, before he can do more damage Kurse picks up the sobbing Aphrodite in one arm the Malekith in the other before running to the balcony.

As they flee Thor throws his hammer, knocking them over the edge but as he runs forward, a narrow ship flies up and past, out of Mjölnir's range. Odin arrives onto the scene then and stares in shock and grief at Frigga for a moment before gathering her still body in his arms.


	26. Chapter 26

On the waterfront, Odin, Thor, Jane, the citizens of Asgard gather for the funeral rites. Frigga is floated out on a boat before Odin signals an archer, who sends a flaming arrow onto the boat. As her flaming boat it carried on across the water, hundreds of burning arrows soar through the air, alighting the boats of all the soldiers and citizens killed by the Dark Elves today.

Frigga's vessel begins reaching the edge of Asgard's sea, where the waters flow over the edge and out into space. Odin strikes his staff upon the ground and, instead of dropping over the edge, Frigga's vessel continues to drift beyond the water, until her spirit itself rises from the boat and lifts into the cosmos like thousands of scattering stars. The citizens of Asgard all cradle orbs of light, which they now lift towards the sky and release. The orbs float up, each a tribute to a lost loved one.

In his cell, Loki is reading when he's interrupted by the arrival of a guard. The guard stands outside of the cell and passes on the news of Frigga's death to him. The only response he gets though is an incline of Loki's head to dismiss him. As the guard leaves Loki, calmly stands and places his book on a nearby table, then walks to the center of his cell and sends out a burst of magic sending the furniture in his cell flying.

* * *

Once Malekith's ship landed on The Dark World, Aphrodite is thrown from within it landing harshly on the hard rocky ground. She's followed out by Kurse, who had tossed her, then Malekith himself.

Angrily Aphrodite jumped to her feet and rushed to Kurse and began striking him, not coherent enough to attempt to use magic on him.

"You killed her! You bastard! You killed her!" Aphrodite shouted at the monster until he wrapped his hand around her throat lifting her off her feet the same way her had done to her mother.

No doubt Kurse was going to kill her as well until Malekith snapped something at him in another language and he tossed her back to the ground.

"Stupid girl!" Malekith spat as he approached.

* * *

Jane sits alone in her room. She walks out onto the balcony where the Aether's blood red vision descends upon her, turning everything she sees into crimson darkness. Everything she was seeing was quickly interrupted by the arrival of guards though.

"Jane Foster, you need to come with us," Tyr announces entering her room with two other guards.

* * *

In the throne room, the Allfather stands with his council of men before the ruins of his throne. Between them is a holographic model of the Palace. "We are still unable to restore the palace shields. Our artillery cannot detect them, even Heimdall cannot see them. My King, we are all but defenceless," Fandral reports.

"She's your prisoner now?" Thor questions as he approaches the group.

Odin looks at his son before turning away as Thor looks at the people in the room with them. "Leave us," Odin descends the stairs after the men depart, "I do not wish to fight with you."

"Nor I with you. But I intend to pursue Malekith," Thor informs him.

"We possess the Aether. Malekith will come to us." Odin shoots down his idea.

"Yes. And he will destroy us, and kill Aphrodite." Thor states.

"You over‐estimate the power of these creatures," Odin mumbles tiredly.

"No, I value our people's lives. I'll take Jane to the Dark World, retrieve Aphrodite and draw the enemy away from Asgard. When Malekith pulls the Aether from Jane, it will be exposed and vulnerable, and I will destroy it and him," Thor devises the plan.

"And if you fail? You risk this weapon falling into the hands of our enemies, and the sure death of your sister." Odin snaps back quickly finding the flaws in the plan.

"The risk is far greater if we do nothing. His ship could be over our heads right now, we would never know it,"

"If and when he comes, his men will fall on ten thousand Asgardian blades,"

"And how many of our men shall fall on theirs?"

"As many as are needed!" Odin shouted before leaning on his staff, as if over‐exerted, he growls and quickly regains himself as Thor steps forward, "We will fight! Till the last Asgardian breath. Till the last drop of Asgardian blood."

"Then how are you different from Malekith?" Thor questions in a softer tone.

"The difference, my son, is that I will win," Odin answers easily. He then turns and walks away, leaving Thor to stare after him troubled.

* * *

"What did you bring me here?" Aphrodite questions Malekith.

"I intended to kill you." He responds casually.

"So why didn't you."

"I believe I have found better use for you."

* * *

Thor sits alone in an empty corner of a tavern. Heimdall approaches and takes a seat at his table, removing his helmet in the process. "You're not in Odin's war council?" Thor questions him.

"The Bifrost is closed by your father's orders. No one is to come or to go. We face an enemy that is invisible even to me. What use is a guardian such as that?" Heimdall shares the information with Thor.

"Malekith will return, you know this. But I need your help," Thor whispers towards the end.

"I cannot over‐rule my King's wishes. Not even for you," Heimdall denies.

"I'm not asking you to. The realms need their Allfather strong and unchallenged, whether he is or not. But he is blinded, Heimdall. By hatred and by grief," Thor continues on.

"As are we all," Heimdall agrees.

"Well I see clearly enough," Thor retorts.

"The risks are too great," Heimdall whispers.

"Everything that we do from here on is a risk, there is no other way," Thor shoots back.

Heimdall considers this before asking, "What do you require of me?"

"What I'm about to ask of you is treason of the biggest order. Success will bring us exile and failure shall mean our death. Malekith knew the Aether was here, he can sense its power. If we do nothing he will come for it again, but this time lay waste to all of Asgard," Thor informs carefully.

* * *

"You can't control the Aether's its power, is too great."

"You think I don't know that?!" Malekith snapped. "That's why you will be the one to draw it out of the mortal."

"Why did you think I'd do that for you?"

"Because if you don't, I'll kill her anyway. And Asgard will soon follow."

* * *

Thor has called his closest friends to a secret meaning, Lady Sif, Fandral and Volstagg. The three have now joined Heimdall in order to hear Thor's plan.

"We must move Jane off‐world," Thor tells them of the plan.

"The Bifrost has been shut down and the Tesseract locked away in the vault," Sif informs him.

"There are other paths off Asgard. Ways known only to a few," Heimdall tell them of the new information.

"One, actually," Thor admits. His comrades realize who Thor is talking about almost immediately and don't seem to be too pleased.

"No," Volstagg breathes out.

* * *

"What makes you believe I have that kind of power?"

"I think you and I both know that you are more powerful than you know. That's why you were able to sense the aether the moment it entered into Asgard."

* * *

"Thor. After all this time, and now you come to visit me. Why? Have you come to gloat? To mock?" Loki growled.

"Loki enough. No more illusions," Thor said shortly.

Loki closes his eyes and bows his heads, disappearing with a ripple of magic.

"Now you see me brother," Loki greets barely glancing up at him from the corner of the destroyed room he sits pitifully. Thor approaches from the other side of the barrier to be closer.

"Did she suffer?" Loki questions quietly.

"I did not come here to share our grief. Instead I offer you the chance of a far richer sacrament," Thor offers with a serious look on his face.

"Go on," Loki tilts his head curiously.

"I know you seek vengeance as much as I do. You help me escape Asgard and I will grant it to you; vengeance. And afterward, this cell," Thor bargains with him. It's silent for a moment as Loki looks around his cell and considers what Thor has offered him.

"You must be truly desperate to come to me for help. What makes you think you can trust me?" Loki chuckles with a smile.

"I don't. Mother did and Aphrodite does." At that statement Loki realizes that his sister has not accompanied Thor. "Loki, Malekith has taken her." Loki sits a bit straighter his heart pounding in the slightest. "I don't know what he intends to do with her but, her power is far greater than anything he's ever encountered. I fear he may use it to his advantage. Should you come with me to get her back, you should know that when we fought each other in the past, I did so with the glimmer of hope that my brother was still in there somewhere. That hope no longer exists to protect you. You betray me and I will kill you," Thor promises.

"When do we start?" Loki smiles leaning closer.

* * *

Thor's discussion continues with his comrades. "He will betray you," Fandral states. "He will try," Thor counters.

* * *

"This is so unlike you, brother. So clandestine. Are you sure you wouldn't rather just punch your way out?" Loki grins teasingly at Thor.

"If you keep speaking I just might," Thor grumbles in annoyance.

"Fine. As you wish. I'm not even here," Loki responds. He shifts into a guard "Is this better?" Loki questions.

"It's better company at least," Thor responds offhandedly.

"Still, we could be less conspicuous," Loki changes back to normal while Thor changes into Sif. "Mmm brother, you look ravishing."

Thor, having not noticed the change up until now, looks down at his feminine body before replying, "It will hurt no less when I kill you in this form."

"Very well. Perhaps you'll both prefer one of your new companions, given that you seem to like them so much," Loki responds then changes into Captain America. "Oh, this is much better. Whoa! Costume's a bit much, it's so tight! But the confidence! I can feel the righteousness surging! Hey, wanna have a rousing discussion about truth, honour, patriotism? God bless America…" Loki rants jokingly.

Thor suddenly grabs Loki and slams him into a pillar putting his hand over his mouth.

"What?" Loki grunts. Thor silently turn in the direction of the two soldiers walking along the plaza in response. "You can at least furnish me with a weapon. My dagger, something!" Loki tries reasoning with his brother.

At the sound of metal sliding Loki smiles. "At last, a little common sense," Loki grins happily then looks down only to see Thor has snapped a pair of handcuffs on him.

"I thought you liked tricks," Thor laughs and continues forward.

* * *

"But what then? Your lovely mortal is being guarded by a legion of Einherjar guards who will see you coming from miles away," Fandral pointed out a flaw in the plan. "I won't be the one who comes for her," Thor answers looking to Sif.

* * *

"You're mad." Aphrodite snaps at Malekith.

"Entirely." Malekith smirked.

* * *

An Einherjar guards opens the door to Jane's room for another guard who is carrying a meal for her. She looks up, clearly unhappy with her situation. "I'm not hungry," Jane grumbles in annoyance.

Sif then enters behind the guards and knocks them both out with ease. "Good. Let's go," Sif orders nodding for her to follow. She escorts Jane through the palace to where Thor and Eve wait with Loki. As soon as Jane sees Loki she quickly moves ahead of Sif.

"You're—" Jane points at him as she approaches.

"I'm Loki. You may have heard of me," Loki greets nonchalantly.

This earns him a slap across the face from Jane. "That was for New York," Jane growls out.

Loki laughs and smiles as well, obviously not bothered by the slap, and looks towards Thor, "I like her."

* * *

"And what of the Allfather?" Sif asks the most important question.

"It is my sworn duty to notify him of crimes against authority," Heimdall answers calmly.

* * *

Heimdall is at his post in the observatory when Odin enters, accompanied by four of his Einherjar guards. "You called me here on an urgent matter. What is it," Odin demands.

"Treason, my lord," Heimdall answers pacing slightly.

"Whose?" Odin questions.

"Mine," Heimdall pulls his great sword out of the control panel of the observatory, the movement causing the guards to step towards him. Instead of attacking though he lays the sword across his palm in surrender as the captain of the guard, Tyr, enters.

"My king, the mortal has been taken," Tyr reports. He looks to Heimdall, who follows his gaze and realizes what is going on.

Heimdall simply stands his ground, silent. "Stop Thor. By any means necessary," Odin speaks to Tyr holds Heimdall's gaze. Tyr leaves at the order with two guards following behind him.

* * *

"There they are! Take them!" a guard yell.

"On my command," another yells Thor steps towards them, prepared to fight, but is stopped by Sif.

"I'll hold them off. Take her," Sif orders him.

"Thank you," Thor whispers to her.

Loki turns to follow after the other three but is stopped by Sif's blade at his throat. "Betray him and I'll kill you," Sif threatens.

"It's good to see you too, Sif," Loki laughs sarcastically. As Sif withdraws her blade Loki saunters off and she turns to face the guards.

* * *

"Assuming you can get Loki's help and you can free this mortal, what good would it do? We'd all be dead the minute we step one foot outside the palace," Volstagg stressfully points out. "That, my friend, is why we won't be leaving by foot," Thor counters.

* * *

Volstagg stands waiting. "I will give you as much time as I can," Volstagg promises.

"Thank you my friend," Thor shakes his hand.

As Loki begins to follow the other three he is yet again stopped, this time by Volstagg. "If you even think about betraying him," Volstagg begins to threaten before Loki cuts him off,

"You'll kill me? Evidently, there will be a line."

In the Dark Elf ship Thor begins to push random buttons in an attempt to start it up, obviously not knowing what to do. "I thought you said you knew how to fly this thing," Loki comments.

"I said, 'how hard could it be?'" Thor corrects. Einherjar soldiers are now jogging in pursuit. As they reach the plaza where Volstagg stands before the Harrow Ship he holds a double‐headed axe in hand.

"They're on the ship! Get to the ship!" A guard yells out the order. None of them are able to get too far though when Volstagg begins to fight them.

"Well, whatever you're doing brother, I suggest you do it faster."

"Shut up, Loki," Thor grumbles.

"You must have missed something," Loki suggests.

"No, I didn't. I'm pressing every button on this thing," Thor snaps hitting more buttons.

"No don't hit it. Just press it gently," Loki advises.

"I am pressing it gently!" Thor begins thumping the buttons in irritation, "It's just not working!"

After Thor finally figured out the rest of the controls for the ship it begins to slowly rotate, taking out palace columns along the way. "I think you missed a column," comments.

"Shut up!" Thor snaps almost immediately.

The ship then lifts off and bursts through a palace wall, twisting and swooping through Asgard. "Look, why don't you let me take over? I'm clearly the better pilot," Loki tries reasoning with him.

"Is that right? Well, out of the two of us, which one can actually fly," Thor denies.

As Thor continues to manoeuvre the ship through the city they catch sight of Jane fainting, but Loki doesn't stop on his rolls of sarcastic quips. "Oh dear. Is she dead?" He mumbles.

"Jane!" Thor asked anxiously.

"I'm okay," Jane mumbles waving off the concern.

Thor then swoops a little too close to a building and takes off the top of it. At seeing this Loki begins to make a comment.

"Not a word," Thor grumbles out the order.

"Now their following us." Loki told said, then shots blast the ship. "Now their firing at us." He shouts.

"Yeah, thank you for the commentary, Loki, it's not at all distracting!" Thor finally snaps.

As they swoop towards a tunnel, the wing of the ship slices through the neck of the statue of King Bor. "Well done. You just decapitated your grandfather," Loki continues with the commentary anyways.

Not long after they make it out of the city and begin flying over water, parallel to a bridge stretching towards distant mountains.

"You know, this is wonderful. This is a tremendous idea. Let's steal the biggest, most obvious ship in the universe and escape in that. Flying around the city, smashing into everything in sight so everyone can see us. It's brilliant, Thor! It's truly brilliant!" Loki rants, yelling slightly towards the end. Then out of nowhere Thor reaches out and shoves Loki out of the open door.


	27. Chapter 27

"I see your time in the dungeons has made you no less graceful, Loki," Fandral laughs before Thor lands on the Skiff with Jane in his arms.

"You lied to me. I'm impressed." Loki muses. As Thor sets Jane down carefully.

"I'm glad you're pleased. Now, do as you promised. Take us to your secret pathway," Thor orders with a snap in his voice.

At this Loki takes hold of the controls and begins grinning widely, Loki veers to the right, which brings attention to another Asgardian skiff and they begin chasing and firing at the ship like the three before had done. Loki was weaving from left to right though to avoid the laser‐fire before lifting the skiff higher.

"Fandral," Thor turns his attention to his friend.

"Right," he nods taking hold of some rope, "For Asgard." He then drops off the edge, using the rope to swing onto the pursuing skiff he knocks out the soldiers easily before saluting and Thor gave a nod in return before turning to where Loki was leading them seeing them heading straight for a mountain.

"Loki." Thor questions warily.

"If it were easy, everyone would do it," Loki responds easily.

"Are you mad?" Thor questions.

"Possibly" Loki responds. Loki steers the skiff into the cave, but it's so narrow that the edges of the skiff smash against the walls. The walls are littered with iridescent crystals and as we whiz through they begin to light up. Everything begins to blur and when it is clear again the skiff ricochets off the black sands of a different realm. "Ta‐da!" Loki sings teasingly.

* * *

"We must strike now." Kurse demands of Malekith when he enters the ship that Malekith is on, his burns being tended to, Aphrodite not too far away, a few dark elves watching over her.

"No." Malekith snaps. "Asgard is meaningless." He says sitting up from his chair then suddenly pausing as if listening for something, Aphrodite too tilts her head as a familiar feeling washes over her. "The Aether has found its way home." He says almost in shock.

* * *

As the skiff glides over dead plains and broken cities, Thor turns to Jane and places a cover over her, she's still unconscious, while Loki watches and shakes his head. "What I could do with the power that flows through those veins," Loki comments staring her down.

"It would consume you," Thor calmly retorts. Taking a seat.

"She's holding up alright. For now," Loki grins mischievously.

"She's strong in ways you'd never even know," Thor replies voice still calm.

"Say goodbye?"

"Not this day," Thor grumbles in determination.

"This day, the next, a hundred years, it's nothing. It's a heartbeat. You'll never be ready. The only women whose love you prized will be snatched from you,"

"And will that satisfy you?" Thor snaps staring back at him.

"Satisfaction is not in my nature," Loki chuckles.

"Surrender is not in mine," Thor shoots back stubbornly.

"The son of Odin," Loki starts before Thor cuts him off,

"No. Not just of Odin," he rises and steps towards Loki, "You think you alone were loved of Mother? You had her tricks, but I had her trust."

"Trust? Was that her last expression? Trust? When you let her die? When they took my sister?" Loki growls raising his voice slightly.

"Our sister! She's as much mine as she is yours! And what help were you in your cell?" Thor snaps back.

"Who put me there? Who put me there?" Loki yelled. Thor leaps towards Loki and knocks him back.

"You know damn well. You know damn well who!" Thor yells back angrily raising his fist. "They wouldn't want us to fight." Thor says backing down.

"Well they wouldn't exactly be shocked," Loki grins as he jokes.

At this the two of them half‐laugh. "I wish I could trust you," Thor whispers turning away. When he turns away though he doesn't catch the look of regret on Loki's face.

"Trust my rage," Loki whispers.

* * *

The skiff is still gliding overtop of the remains of a ruined Dark Elf city, called Svartalfheim.

"Jane," Thor tries getting her attention. She ignores him though and sits up before moving to the bow. "Malekith," Jane breathes out in a daze. She must see something in the distance.

They climb from the skiff and move towards the edge of a cliff and watch as Malekith and the Dark Elves exit the ship on the plains below, Aphrodite in tow.

Loki narrows his eyes as he watches the thing from before, Kurse, Aphrodite and Malekith stride across the sand below.

"Alright. Are you ready?" Thor questions.

"I am." Loki says with determination.

Loki, Thor step away from Jane to speak, plain sight for Malekith to see.

"You know, this plan of yours is going to get us killed?" Loki points out as they stare down the cliff.

"Yes, possibly," Thor agrees completely. When Loki holds up his cuffed wrists to Thor though he hesitates.

"You still don't trust me brother?" Loki asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Would you?" Thor shoots back. Nevertheless Thor releases Loki from his handcuffs and the plan begins.

"No I wouldn't," Loki agrees with an edge to his voice. In a swift movement Loki stabs Thor with a dagger and flings him down the hill before turning to me. "Thor! No!" Jane cries out.

Malekith is watching all of this from below and begins to make his way towards them.

"Do you really think I cared about Frigga? About any of you?" Loki says venomously while kicking Thor in the face, "All I ever wanted was you and Odin, dead at my feet!" Thor reaches his hand out in an attempt to summon Mjölnir, but Loki cuts off his hand with his dagger before he can.

When Jane sees Thor get his hand cut off she rushes to his side to make sure he was okay. He can't respond though because he's in too much pain to focus on forming any coherent words. After cutting off Thor's hand Loki grabs onto Jane.

"Malekith! I am Loki of Jotunheim, and I bring you a gift!" Loki roughly throws Jane at Malekith's feet, "I ask only one thing in return. A good seat from which to watch Asgard burn."

"He is an enemy of Asgard. He was a prisoner in their dungeons," Kurse informs Malekith in Elvish.

Malekith and Loki are silent for a moment as they both access each other to Thor. "Look at me," Malekith orders nudging him with his foot. He rolls over onto his back with difficulty, and Malekith sees his amputee hand and turns to Aphrodite.

"Do it," he demands. "Now!" He snaps.

Aphrodite looks at Thor writhing on the ground and catches the slight glint in his eyes, he has a plan. Then she looks at Loki and with the slightest incline of his head she raises her hand into the air and with a golden shimmer carefully Jane levitates into the air and Loki and Thor watch as she draws the Aether from Jane.

As the Aether is drawn from her both Jane and Aphrodite see a vision of the universe turning into darkness. When the Aether leaves her body completely Jane drops to the ground, and the Aether temporarily hovers in the air between them.

"Loki! Now!" Thor calls out. At the order Loki uses magic to put Thor's hand back into place before leaping over to Jane, shielding her as Thor calls Mjölnir and tries to destroy the Aether.

Aphrodite now realizing the plan, draws a shield around herself while Thor uses his lightening in an attempt to destroy the Aether.

For a moment it seems to have worked as the Aether explodes into nothing but shards, but then the fallen shards rise up from the ground and they begin to drift and merge into Malekith. Malekith screamed as if in pain when the Aether merges with him then opens his eyes to reveal the red power of the Aether within him.

He then departs to his ship Loki and Thor try stopping Malekith but before they can Kurse throws a grenade at them. Seeing this Loki quickly pushes Jane out of the way of the incoming grenade and Aphrodite easily catches her pulling her to the ground but Loki ends up being sucked towards a black hole made but the grenade.

"Loki!" Aphrodite cries out worriedly. Luckily before she can make a move to go after him can Thor is hurtling over and tackling Loki to the side.

As Thor goes after Kurse and Loki is busy with a number of the remaining dark elves, Aphrodite quickly pulls Jane up and leads her over to a decent hiding spot.

"Stay here!" Aphrodite tells her then cuts her of before she can protest. "Don't argue! Just stay here and don't move!"

Without waiting for her response Aphrodite moves back out into the battlefield. Loki is easily taking care of the dark elves surrounding him so Aphrodite decides to go over and help Thor just as Kruse breaks off a huge boulder and throws it at Thor, Aphrodite teleports directly into its path and uses a shield to deflect the boulder. As soon as the shield drop Kruse backhands Aphrodite then swats Mjölnir out of mid-air as Thor tries to call it to him.

After defeating the Dark Elves Loki looks to Thor to see that Aphrodite has joined him. He watches as she manoeuvre's herself onto Kurse's shoulders and wrapped her legs around his neck attempting to choke him, it works for a moment before Kurse reaches up and easily grabs her and holds her in the air for a moment, choking her, before throwing her into the ground harshly. The impact leaves a dent in the ground and causes a cloud of dust to fill the air. Kurse then begins punching Thor over and over again, smashing him deeper into the ground.

Loki watches from a distance as Kurse approaches Aphrodite and stands above her menacingly. At the sight of this he starts to approach from behind quickly yet silently.

"Do your worst," Aphrodite taunts with a smirk.

As Kurse raises his fist to begin driving Aphrodite into the ground like he had done to Thor previously a huge blade goes through him. Seemingly unaffected by it Kurse turns around slowly to face Loki, who had driven the sword through him, grabs onto him, and pulls Loki into him to impale Loki through the chest.

"No!" Aphrodite screams out in anguish. Thor, hearing her scream, slowly sits up and takes in the sight as well.

"No!" Thor screams out as well.

Kurse flings Loki to the ground and walks towards him, but he seems completely unaffected by the injury. "See you in hell, monster," Loki growls out with some difficulty.

When Kurse looks down he sees Loki activated the black hole grenade on his hip, he scrambles to try and remove it but he's too late and it explodes and sucks him into it. As soon as Kurse disappears Aphrodite scramble's over to Loki's side with Thor following not too far behind me.

"No, no, no." Aphrodite whimpers grabbing onto his hand. "I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do." She sobbed desperately.

"Oh, you fool, you didn't listen," Thor whispers brokenly cradling Loki in his arms.

"I know, I'm a fool, I'm a fool," Loki barely chokes out.

"What we're you thinking?" Aphrodite choked out.

"I couldn't," Loki can barely speak but he knows that she has to know this. "I couldn't let him hurt, my sister." His breath start coming out in short pant but he forces a small smile the quickly turns to a grimace.

"You can't leave, you can't leave me." Aphrodite pleads squeezing his hand.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm sorry," Loki can barely speak at this point.

"Shh, it's okay," Thor whispers with a teary smile. Then Loki's expression grows calm and he starts to stop shaking as his face begins to turn a strange mottled soot colour.

"It's alright. I'll tell Father what you did here today," Thor chokes out trying not to cry but at this point tears a freely and rapidly streaming down Aphrodite's cheeks.

"I didn't do it for him." Loki reveals.

As he draws his last breath both Thor and Aphrodite lets out screams of anguish, Aphrodite releasing a surprisingly strong burst of magic the shattered the rock formations in what remains of the Dark World.

Still holding onto Loki's hand she buried her face into his chest hoping that by some miracle he would squeeze back but of course that didn't happen. Because Loki was dead. Her brother was dead. And he died protecting her.


	28. Chapter 28

A sand-storm blew into Svartalfheim likely due to the combined emotions and power of Thor and Aphrodite forcing them to leave Loki's body and search for shelter. Even though leaving him was the last thing Aphrodite wanted to do she knew that bringing him was quite literally having him as dead weight.

After wandering through the black sands of Svartalfheim for a little while Thor, Jane and Aphrodite eventually find cover in a cave.

"He's gonna unleash it. Not just on Asgard or on a star. Malekith is going to destroy everything," Jane told them worriedly.

"How? Jane, how?" Thor rushes out.

"I saw him on Earth. Why would he go to Earth?"

"I saw it too." Aphrodite told them "The Convergence." Thor nods in realization.

"God. None of this would have happened if I hadn't found the Aether," Jane begins blaming herself.

"Then Malekith would've only possessed it that much sooner," Thor says reassuring her.

"I only found it because I was looking for you," Jane confesses.

"Jane," Thor mumbles with a sympathetic gaze.

"Now we're trapped here," Jane sighs. Then, suddenly there's the sound of strange music coming from somewhere.

"It's, not me." Thor says with eyebrows scrunched together in confusion.

Jane pulls out her phone and stares in confusion before answering it. "Hello?" There was a response from the other end before Jane exclaimed "Richard?! Where are you?"

Jane had stood and out her phone on speaker holding it up high to try and strengthen the signal.

"Oh my, this is amazing!" She breathes out.

 _"Is it?"_ The voice on the phone questioned.  _"I quite enjoyed our lunch, despite never actually ordering anything?"_

Aphrodite looked over to her brother to see the look of mild irritation and slight jealousy and couldn't help a small smile at the sight.

"How am I getting service here?" Jane mumbled in confusion. To which both Thor and Aphrodite just shrugged.

 _"Is this a bad time? Do you want me to call you later?"_  Richard questions confused.

"No, no, no! Don't hang up, please. Whatever you do don't hang up." Jane rushed out.

 _"Okay, then."_  Richard said surprised but reassuringly.  _"I was just wondering if you wanted to try again, maybe dinner next time."_

"Yeah, okay. Just stay on the phone okay?" Jane rushes out.

_"I will."_

"Oh my god." Jane mutters bending down to pick up a set of keys. "C'mon." She urges Thor and Aphrodite and begins leading them deeper into the cave.

"Why are so many shoes in here?" Thor looks around at the ground in confusion.

One moment Thor, Jane and Aphrodite are in the cave and then the next they're disappearing. They've successfully found the portal that links them back to Earth.

Jane leads them to a tiny red car and gets into the driver's seat. Aphrodite easily climbed into the backseat and stifled a giggle at seeing Thor cram himself into the passenger's seat.

"So, who is Richard?"

"Really?" Jane sighs in exasperation. Aphrodite smiles in amusement as Jane begins the rather silent drive.

Jane takes them back to her apartment and as soon as they we enter Darcy is jumping up. Aphrodite gives her a weak smile and sees Thor hanging Mjölnir on a coat hook out of the corner of her eyes. She gives him a look to which he just shrugs

"Jane!" Darcy's voice suddenly exclaims.

"Hey," Jane breathes out tiredly. At seeing the two immortals standing at the door the young man on the couch quickly jumped off of it.

"You can't just leave like that. The whole world is going crazy. All the stuff we saw is spreading," Darcy rants before noticing Jane's clothing, "Did you go to a party?"

"Erik!" Jane exclaims in shock ignoring Darcy's question. Following her gaze they see Erik sitting behind a computer.

"Jane! How wonderful. Oh," He said as he pulled her into a hug, before taking in her clothing. "You've been to Asgard."

"Where are you pants?" Aphrodite questions bluntly.

"Oh, he, uh….he says it helps him think," Ian stutters out the answer.

"Okay, well, I'm going to need everything you've got on this," Jane brushes it off as nothing. "All the work you've been doing on gravimetric anomalies, everything."

"Okay." Erik nods.

"Are you well, Erik?" Thor looks at him in concern. Erik laughs in response at first before suddenly turning serious.

"Your brother's not coming, is he?" At this Aphrodite takes a deep calming breath knowing that Erik meant no harm by the question he just feared for his safety.

"Loki is dead," Thor mumbles taking his sisters hand.

"Oh, thank god!" Erik exclaims in relief making Aphrodite raise her eyebrows at him. "I, I meant, I'm so sorry."

"Thank you," Thor replies unconvinced. Erik then steps forward and pulls them into a hug.

* * *

 

Standing on the black sands of Svartalfheim an Einherjar soldier shimmers with the green glow of Loki's magic. He appears to be surveying something on the ground, which can only be assumed to be the body of the real soldier sent there. After a moment he turns and walks away to the awaiting skiff. Time passes and the soldier is now back in Asgard. The guard approaches Odin, who stands at the foot of his broken throne with his head bowed.

"Forgive me, my liege. I've returned from the Dark World with news," the soldier reports.

"Thor or Aphrodite?" Odin turns his head to the solider.

"There was no sign of Thor, Aphrodite, or the weapon, but…"

"What?" Odin now turns to the soldier fully.

"We found a body," the soldier confesses. Odin looks away then back at the soldier.

"Loki." The soldier says nothing in return but looks up from beneath his helm and gives a dark smile.

* * *

 

Still in Jane's apartment Thor, Jane, Darcy, Erik, Ian and Aphrodite all sit around a table trying to figure out what to do to stop Malekith.

"Malekith is going to fire the Aether at a spot where all the nine worlds are connecting," Jane fills everyone in.

"Amplifying the weapon's impact. For each additional world, the power will increase exponentially. The effect would be universal," Erik continues.

"Yes but the alignment is only temporary," Aphrodite points out.

"He must be in exactly the right place at the right time," Thor agrees with a head nod.

"Well, how do we know where that is?" Darcy questions.

"We follow the directions," Erik grabs a world map and moves to another table, "This has happened before, thousands of years ago, and the Ancients were there to see it," he then sweeps off the stuff from the table and spreads out the map as the others surround him, "All the great constructions, the Mayans, the Chinese, the Egyptians. They made use of the gravitational effects of the Convergence. And they left us a map," he begins ruling lines on the map, "Stonehenge, Snowden, the Great Orem. These are all coordinates taking us, here," he points to Greenwich.

"Greenwich?" Ian mumbles.

"The walls between worlds will be almost non‐existent," Jane starts. "Physics is going to go ballistic. Increases and decreases in gravity, spatial extrusions. The very fabric of reality is going to be torn apart," At hearing all of this Thor calls Mjölnir.

"I better get my pants," Erik mumbles with a nod.

* * *

 

As soon as they reach their destination everyone gets to work. Darcy and Ian are currently unloading Erik's scientific tent poles from the car near the University campus.

"Focus! This is important. We have to hammer them in all around the site, and then Jane and Erik will activate them from the tower." Darcy rushes out the order.

"They're taped together." Ian informs after observing one of them.

"Do you even know what these things do?" Darcy questions in a serious tone.

"No." Ian answers after a moment.

"Neither do I." Darcy confesses.

Together Jane and Erik stride through Greenwich University's library as fast as they can and as they pass a woman shushes them. Jane and Erik soon reach their first location while Ian begins hammering the first pole into place.

"Come on, come on, come on!" Darcy rushes him.

"Right," Ian grunts out. Malekith's Ark then chooses that moment to begin to ripple into sight and cuts its way through the water, approaching the university.

"Holy shit." Darcy breathes out in shock.

The Ark tears up road as it slices its way through the ground. Cars crash around it in an attempt to avoid the unknown spacecraft.

As the Ark comes to a stop and Malekith steps off Thor and Aphrodite land in front of him.

"You needn't have come so far, Asgardians. Death would've come to you soon enough," Malekith calls out.

"Not by your hand." Thor denies as they walk towards him.

"Your universe was never meant to be. Your world and your family will be extinguished!" Malekith yells. As soon as he finishes speaking he throws his arms out and the power of the Aether flies from him. At the force of the impact Thor and Aphrodite fall back onto the ground.

* * *

 

As this happens Erik and Jane are still trying to set everything up and get it ready. Jane is currently adjusting the controls on her equipment.

"We're running out of time," Erik warns her.

"Almost there," Jane mumbles.

"Are you sure this is going to work? These devices were made to detect anomalies, not cause them," Erik rationally explains.

"Oh, come on," Jane continues to mumble as she gets her device working.

* * *

 

Thor and Aphrodite slowly climb to their feet only to be thrown back again by the Aether. At seeing this Jane begins running to a new location. "Come on Darcy!" Jane rushes out the exclamation.

Malekith blasts them again but this time Aphrodite creates a force field around them and as the Aether hits it, it only sends them sliding back a few feet rather than knocking them down.

"You know, all that power I thought you'd hit harder." Aphrodite taunts and Malekith draws himself upwards and the Aether swirls around him. Before he can blast them again though Thor throws Mjölnir at him, sending Malekith flying backwards and into the Dark Elves standing behind him. "Nice." Aphrodite said nodding in approval as Malekith continues to go through concrete pillars and into a vehicle.

"Thank you." Thor accepts the compliment with a grin before they took off after Malekith.

* * *

 

Ian finishes hammering the last pole into the ground as Jane watches from the building. "Done," Ian nods to Darcy in confirmation. At this Darcy gives Jane a thumbs up. Jane then runs to Erik, who is watching the realms align in the sky above.

"The Convergence will be in full effect in seven minutes." Erik informs her.

"That just means we have to keep Malekith busy for eight," Jane turns the dials on her device, "Okay you might want to hold on to something." Erik clutches onto a pillar and Jane turns a dial on her device and the air ripples around a group of Dark Elves before they suddenly disappear.

"That was awesome! How did you do that?" Darcy exclaims excitedly over the phone. "Well, the gravitational fields interact with weak spots between worlds, creating—" Jane begins explaining before Darcy cuts her off,

"Ooh! Get the guy with the sword!"

Jane didn't argue with her and turns the dial upon her request. But, instead of the Dark Elf with the sword disappearing Darcy and Ian do instead.

"Oops," Jane mumbles when she notices this.

"Let's go," Erik drags her away. Darcy and Ian appear again on a street.

"Um…what the hell just happened?" Darcy exclaims in confusion. The air ripples again beside them and a Dark Elf crashes onto a car, which causes a scream to erupt from Ian.

"Move!" Darcy yells dragging him away.

* * *

 

Malekith had tried to use the Aether on them but Thor slid on the ground and Aphrodite created a force field and blocked its power, then Thor thrust Mjölnir into Malekith that sent him through a portal and he came back out and shot at Thor with the Aether.

Thor hits Malekith with his hammer but Malekith blocks it and the collision creates waves of power that shatters the windows of a nearby library, Aphrodite moves to blast Malekith but the ripples caused but their combined power forces them through another portal along with several cars.

Tumbling out of the portal they end up back on the black sands of Svartalfheim all of them going over a cliff and falling into a ravine. Reaching out Thor quickly grabs onto Aphrodite and they hang on to each other tightly, just before they fall through another portal. This one empties them in air above London and they crash into the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral. The cars that have followed them this whole time tumble down and smash into the road.

They fall towards the road after the cars but instead of crashing into the ground another portal opens and they land back in Svartalfheim. Releasing his grip on Aphrodite Thor throws his hammer at Malekith, but Mjölnir goes straight through the elf and disappear into thin air. They all stand there in shock for a moment before Malekith makes the first move. He releases another burst of Aether sending Thor and Aphrodite to the ground. Then, just as Malekith slams a fist into Thor, they disappear through the sand and are once again falling towards London. This time they hit the Swiss Re Tower, and slide down the side, the people inside staring in shock. As they continue to fall Thor calls for Mjölnir but just before it can reach him, they've going through another portal.

* * *

 

Two military jets are flying towards Malekith's Ark. "Confirming ship is hostile," the first pilot reports.

"Confirmed, ship is hostile. You have permission to engage," radio granted permission.

"Roger. Missiles locked. Missiles away," pilot informs as he presses the button. What they weren't expecting was for the missiles to veer away and disappear through one of the portals.

Then the jet starts to lose control. "Missiles off‐target. I repeat, target missed. I'm losing control," pilot reports panicked. The jets find a portal of their own and end up flying through Vanaheim.

"Mayday! Mayday! Lost positive control!" Pilot continues panicking.

Hogun watches in disbelief from below as the jets hurtle past him. Back at Greenwich University Jane and Erik are running together.

"What are you doing?" Erik exclaims.

"My signal's not connecting," Jane answers still fiddling with her device. Parts of the building begin to crash around them. A group of Dark Elves turn the corner behind them just as Jane stops to turn dials.

"Jane! Come on," Erik drags her away just before either of them gets hit by a laser.

* * *

 

This time they land in the frigid wasteland that is Jotunheim. A Frost Beast then erupts from the ice and smashes the icy shelf that we're standing on. The shelf crumbles beneath their feet and they plummet into the ravine. Used to the falling by now they all just let it happen and wait for the hard stop, none of them noticing that the Frost Beast came through too.

* * *

 

Darcy and Ian are running through the streets of London and narrowly miss the laser‐fire of pursuing Dark Elves. The Frost Beast charges through an alley and unwittingly saves them by snatching a Dark Elf up in its jaws and eating it, causing the other elves to flee in the opposite direction before the beast bounds away. Lying on the ground Ian notices the car beside him floating inches above the ground. He sees the elves' returning as Darcy rises to her feet. He lifts the car and throws it upon the elves, crushing them. Darcy can only look at Ian in astonishment.

"Are you alright?" Ian breathes out in concern.

"You saved my life," Darcy mutters more to herself in shock.

"Yeah. I guess I did," Ian smiles proudly while tossing the car bumper off to the side. Darcy doesn't respond this time and instead approaches him with a smile of her own.

Meanwhile, Jane and Erik are still running with Dark Elves doing the same. As the two slow to a halt in front of a group of Dark Elves Jane finally gets her device to work and the air shimmers as the Elves disappear and are replaced with Ian and Darcy. Darcy has Ian tipped back in her arms in a kiss.

"Darcy?" Jane exclaims with an expression mixed with shock and disgust. Darcy looks up at hearing her name and releases Ian, who falls to the ground with a thud.

"Jane!" Darcy exclaims.

"Ian!" Erik address in a shocked yet stern voice.

"Selvig!" Ian grunts out from the ground. As if on cue Mjölnir flies past them, still trying to find its way back to Thor.

"Mew mew!" Darcy exclaims pointing to Mjölnir as it flies by.

* * *

 

Despite all falling through the same portal Thor and Aphrodite land in a different location than Malekith. Malekith lands back in Greenwich while Thor and Aphrodite land in a subway station. Turning around they see a train opening its doors and letting passengers on and off.

"How do we get to Greenwich?" Thor asks a woman standing in the train.

She hesitates for a moment, obviously shocked by their beat up and odd appearances, but answers him nonetheless, "Take this train. Three stops."

Thor and Aphrodite step into the train, him beside the woman and her on the other side. As the train departs the woman loses her footing and is accidentally thrown against Thor's chest. "Sorry, sorry," the woman rushes out nervously. Thor says nothing in return as Aphrodite gives him a look he simply grins.

Back in Greenwich, Malekith is approaching the Ark as the Convergence is aligning above it. The Aether begins to swirl like a tornado around him as he steps forward and throws up his arms.

Jane and Erik step outside and see the Alignment taking place. "We're out of time," Jane comments as she takes in the scene. With that said she rushes down the steps beside them and towards where the Alignment was taking place.

"Jane. Jane!" Erik calls after her. She continues to run off though and ignore him calling after her.

The Aether is now swirling around the Ark, climbing upwards towards the aligning worlds. Tendrils of Aether snake first into Asgard blackening the Observatory with its touch.

At that moment Thor and Aphrodite are arriving on the site of the Convergence. Jane and Erik reach them at the same time.

"Thor! Aphrodite! We're too late," Jane informs as she jogs to the two.

"The Convergence is at its peak," Erik mutters in defeat.

Thor and Aphrodite look down at the equipment Erik is carrying.

"Can those things stop it?" Thor questions.

"Not from here," Erik says.

"We can't get close enough." Jane continues.

"I can." Thor said determined and then he grabbed the equipment from Erik.

“What about the aether?” Aphrodite questioned. “You won’t make it through.”

Thor glanced back at the swirling abyss. “Any suggestions?”

“I can control it long enough for you to break through. Once you get rid of Malekith it will need a host.”

“You can’t.”

“I have to.”

Thor nodded knowing that once his sister had made up her mind there was no changing it. Together they approached the edge of where the aether was growing. He shared ne more look with his sister before she nodded and let he powers flow through her to fight the power of the aether, Thor watched it happen and saw the gold power take over her body like he had seen only one time before this.

"Malekith!" Thor shouted to the Dark Elf who had yet to notice his presence.

"Darkness returns, Asgardians. Have you come to witness the end of your universe?" Malekith turned slowly to face him.

"I've come to accept your surrender," Thor denies. He throws one of the poles at Malekith, who catches it with one hand easily.

Jane checks her gadget again before turning the dial. The pole Malekith holds beeps before his arm disappears. At seeing this Thor throws the other, t spears Malekith in the opposite shoulder and rips off his other arm. Off in Svartalfheim the arm of Malekith lands in its sands.

"You think you can stop this? The Aether cannot be destroyed," Malekith roars in anger. As he yells this the Aether begins to take the form of limbs he was missing.

"But you can." Thor says as he calls upon Mjölnir and they starts running at Malekith ,having been lost all this time, Mjölnir finally returns to Thor as he leaps into the air.

Aphrodite pulls on the aether and it finally let’s go of Malekith forcing its way into Aphrodite who promptly passes out from the power. Thor throws the last pole and as it nears him Thor uses his hammer to hammer it into Malekith, who's sent flying backwards in the process and into his Ark.

Jane turns the dial on her device again, and this time Malekith completely disappears. She runs from the safety of her shelter only to see Thor and Aphrodite unconscious on the ground. The Ark begins to topple over them, and Jane doesn't hesitate to run towards them.

"No!" Jane yells desperately. She drags Aphrodite out of the way first, her being the easiest to drag away, before rushing to Thor's side. He isn't as easy to move as his sister. Jane tries to drag him away and out of the path of the slowly descending spacecraft but it doesn't work.

"Jane!" Erik calls out to her. When she comes to realize that she'll never make it in time she throws herself over Thor and hugs his chest. Nothing happens. Jane opens her eyes to see Aphrodite in front of them her eyes taking on that golden colour as she uses her power to force the Ark through the portal until it has completely disappeared. On Svartalfheim, Malekith opens his eyes in time to see the Ark crashing down upon him.

Erik grins while holding a device in his hand, a portal‐making device. "Everyone okay?" Erik questions looking at the three.

Jane sits up and leans over Thor to see him regaining consciousness and hugs him tight once again while Aphrodite lay back beside him and held onto his hand staring up at the blue sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter after this one, then it’s going to be a couple the independent chapters before I go into the next movie Aphrodite will be in. Any one wanna take a guess as to which movie that will be.


	29. Chapter 29

Two days later Jane, Darcy, Erik and Ian all sit together around a table in Jane's apartment eating breakfast. A heavy silence fills the room with the only noises being the chewing from everyone eating.

"He's gonna come back," Darcy reassures. The only response she gets is a skeptic sigh from Erik. "Except, you know, last time he was gone, for like, two years," Darcy continues in a bit of an awkward, hesitant tone.

"Well, it's only been two days, so…" Jane trails off.

"Did he say anything before he and Aphrodite left?" Erik questions with genuine curiosity.

"Yeah, he had to figure some stuff out with his father. He kinda committed treason, on our way out." Jane informs. The longer she said all of this the slower and slightly more awkward her tone got towards the end. Another silence fills the air with Jane's chewing being the only one breaking it this time around.

"Oh," Erik mutters.

* * *

 

Back on Asgard Thor and Aphrodite kneel at the foot of the throne on Asgard.

"You once said there would never be a wiser king than me. You were wrong. The alignment has brought all the realms together. Every one of them saw you both offer your lives to save them. What can Asgard offer its new King in return?" Odin speaks to them.

"My life," Thor speaks softly as he stands from his kneeled position, "Father, I cannot be king of Asgard. I will protect Asgard and all the realms with my last and every breath, but I cannot do so from that chair. Loki, for all his grave imbalance, understood rule as I know I never will. The brutality, the sacrifice…It changes you. I'd rather be a good man than a great king."

Aphrodite gave him reassuring smile as and nudge as she stood as well.

"Aphrodite understands rule, she will make a fine queen. And I stand to say that she should take the throne." The women in question turns to him in shock before looking back to their father as he spoke.

"Is this my son I hear? Or the woman he loves?" Odin questions with doubt in his voice.

"When you speak, do I never hear mother's voice?" Thor shoots back easily. Odin sighs in response and casts his eyes downwards as he takes a seat on his throne.

"This is not for Jane, father. She does not know what I came here to say. Now forbid me to see her or say she can rule at my side, it changes nothing," Thor continues on.

"One son who wanted the throne too much, another who will not take it, and a daughter who believes that she is not worthy of it. Is this my legacy?" Odin sighs.

"I was under the impression that the throne was never mine to claim. Loki died with honour. I shall try to live the same," Aphrodite says to him.

"And so will I," Thor adds.

"Is that not legacy enough?" Aphrodite questions in a soft tone.

Odin nods in response while Thor looks down at Mjölnir and offers it to Odin.

"It belongs to you. If you are worthy of it," Odin shakes his head and waves a hand dismissively.

"I shall try to be," Thor nods.          

"I cannot give either of you my blessing, nor can I wish you good fortune," Odin informs.

"We know," Thor mutters while Aphrodite nods in understanding. Thor turns and begins leading his sister from the room.

"If I were proud of the man and woman my children had become, even that I could not say, I would speak only from my heart. Go, my son and my daughter," Odin says making them pause briefly.

"Thank you, father." They both say.

Odin watches as Thor and Aphrodite depart together before a green shimmer rolls over him to reveal it was Loki all along speaking those words to them.

"No, thank you," Loki replies with a dark smile.

* * *

 

“And you are certain, this is what you want?” Aphrodite questions Thor as they walk together towards the observatory her arm hooked around his.

“More certain than I’ve been about anything in quite some time sister.”

“I’m happy for you.”

“Still, it doesn’t feel right. Leaving you here after,” Thor trailed off as they came to a stop outside of the observatory, Heimdall had his back to them under the guise of privacy but they all knew that not to be true.

“I know.” She knew of course he was talking about what had happened while they were in the dark world.

“You know you’re more than welcomed to come along.” Thor said for what had to have been the thousandth time. After giving the matter much thought Aphrodite decided that she would stay in Asgard for the time being while Thor went back to earth to spend time with Jane.

Shaking her head Aphrodite smiled. “I know, go be with Jane. I’ll handle things on this end.”

“The aether?”

“I’ll take care of it, and what’s left of the convergence as well. You don’t need to worry so much about me.”

“It’s my job.” Thor said reverently.

She nodded and Thor placed his hand on the side of her neck before lowering her head down to hers and pressed their foreheads together. Aphrodite placed her hand on his side and pressed back.

“I’ll see you soon.” She told him before they parted. Together they entered the Observatory.

“Where to?” Heimdall asked as if his job wasn’t to know exactly what was happening in every part of the universe all the time.

Still Thor smiled. “Take me to her.” Heimdall nodded and pushed down his sword to activate the Bifrost, instantly the beautiful rainbow coloured rays of the Bifrost lit up and pulled Thor in.

 


	30. Chapter 30

Aphrodite was sat on the stairs in the weapon’s vault mulling over her thoughts. In this very room on the very same steps she was sitting on was where Loki found out of his true lineage. And which in turn set about a series of events that no one could have predicted.

And as she stared across to the Tesseract and felt the power of the aether react to being in the presence of its brethren, she wondered if stepping foot in this room on the day of Thor’s coronation all those years ago had changed their destinies in more ways than one.

“Careful my child,” Aphrodite heard her father’s voice before she saw him as he came down the steps behind her. “You stare into the cube for too long you risk being consumed by its energy.”

She smiled and looked back at him. “I think it’s too late to talk to me about being consumed by energy.” She teased.

He nodded and settled himself down next to her on the steps. “Yes, the aether. I trust that by know you’ve come to realize what it is.”

“The reality stone.”

“By far the most dangerous of the stones, it feeds off of a living host to survive.”

“I know,” Aphrodite said rolling her neck, and Loki in Odin’s form could see the dark red power flow through her veins.

“It cannot stay within you my child.”

“You’re right.” She said agreed. “Before we went to Midgard, I had a dream about Loki. He was sent to trade the Tesseract for earth, I fear that whoever sent him will come looking for the Tesseract.”

“You think it unwise to keep two of the stones hidden on Asgard.”

“I do. I’ve read about a man, they call him The Collector. He supposed to have the largest collection of interstellar valuables in all the universe, the stone would be safe there.”

“I trust your judgement.” Odin said after a moment of silence. “I do request that you allow your warriors to accompany you, should anything go wrong.”

“I can take care of myself.” Aphrodite repeated what she’d said to Thor to her father.

“I know.” He said then Aphrodite stood to leave. “Take some time for yourself my child, there is peace across the realms, and Asgard is in perfectly good hands.”

“I will father. In the meantime you should prepare yourself.”

“For?”

“I don’t know yet, destiny? Destiny always comes. I would know.” She teased before leaving, and Loki let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding as he slumped back against the steps.

* * *

 

Aphrodite, Lady Sif, Volstagg and Frandral followed an alien with an alarming shade of pink skin through the so called museum of the mysterious Collector. The alien did not give her name but she said that she was the Collector's aide, and was polite enough when answered whatever inquiry that either of the Asgardians had.

"You keep creatures here," Volstagg queried as he walked passed a plant like creature that looked like nothing in particular. Volstagg couldn't tell if it was bored or sad as it looked at them through its glass case.

"Yes," The aide answered primly. "A lot of them are from dying races or are the last of their kind much like her," She gestured to a bird like alien that looked over to them before closing her eyes and turning away.

"Would it not be best to simply let nature take its desired course," Aphrodite asked as she tried to wrap her head around the type of place this was. "To let them move on as intended?"

"And allow all their knowledge and power to go to waste," The aide appeared horrified at the princess’ words. Her eyes were wide as she shook her head, her braids flapping with each shake. "That would be unacceptable!" She exclaimed with a dark glare towards Aphrodite. She shook her head once more before looking away with her nose in the air.

The Asgardians paused in their steps at seeing the look before continuing with their walk. The pause was done out of surprise rather than fear as they never expected the small alien to be hostile. Just as the warrior she was trained to be Sif placed a hand on her sword out of caution and Aphrodite shook her head at the female warrior.

"May I present to you," the pink aide said cheerfully, all hostility gone from her visage. "Taneleer Tivan: the Collector." She gestured in his direction.

The four Asgardian’s regarded the man before them curiously as he stepped forward. He wore black armour with a red trim and a long white fur coat that was partially wrapped around his left forearm. He wore white gloves that were tucked into his armour. His face was wrinkle free his eyes held a power and wisdom that suggested that he was much older than he looked.

A black line ran from his bottom lip towards his chin. None could tell if it was a permanent mark or if it were merely a form of decoration. His eyes were outlined in black make up which emphasized his platinum blonde hair.

"Ooh," The Collector's brow knitted together, his lips protruding slightly as he drawled the sound staring at their armour, Aphrodite’s in particular, the badges attaching her cape to her shoulders and the designs on her corset signifying who she was. He continued in an almost reverent tone, "Asgardians" He shifted his hands into a strange pattern before bowing strangely. "Your Majesty, you humble me with your presence."

Volstagg blinked while Sif's eyebrows rose and Frandral tilted his head at the man’s behaviour they shared a quick look. He not what any of them had expected. They missed the grimace that the aide sent their way before Aphrodite decided to speak.

"Pleasure," She said stiffly as the warriors around her moved to incline their head before stopping as they noticed the Collector did not move from his bow. "Rise please that’s not necessary, I presume that you know the reason for our visit?"

The aide frowned at what she perceived as disrespect but said nothing as the Collector slowly started to rise.

"Of course," He drawled with his eyes staring at the ground even though he stood straight, “I am deeply honoured by the request of King Odin and the Princess but if I may be so bold," His eyes shot towards the woman in question who gestured for him to go on, "Why do you not keep it in the vault; surely it is secure enough to hold the Aether? Even with that unfortunate incident involving prince Loki, your king's vault is said to be extremely secure. Even more so than my own collection."

"We already possess the Tesseract," Volstagg spoke up in response as Sif narrowed her eyes and clenched her free hand, she did not like this man.  "Or the Cosmic Cube if you prefer," Volstagg amended his statement as the Collector showed no recollection of what he said. "To hold more than one Infinity Stone is most unwise." He finished sharply as the Collector nodded slowly.

"Indeed, I see the wisdom in that," The Collector stated.

“Sif,” Aphrodite called and the dark haired woman stepped forward and slowly lifted the container in her right hand. It began to glow ominously, its red light illuminating the immediate area. The Collector stared at it briefly before looking at Aphrodite in silent question. She nodded and he slowly stepped forward.

One gloved hand grasped the bottom of the container and the other grasped the foldable handle, Sif let go when Collector had it firmly in his hands. He folded the handle down and began to squeeze the container, but Aphrodite placed a hand over his stopping his examinations. He was shocked at the touch but hastened to placate her.

"I can assure you…" The Collector drawled. "It will be…absolutely safe here…in my collection."

"See that it is," Aphrodite said curtly. "Or I will be most displeased." The Collector bowed his head and Aphrodite took her hand away then turned to the aide. "We know the way back, we will see ourselves out."

The aide gave a sharp nod then Sif led the way from the room and Aphrodite followed behind, the aide’s eyes flashed as she glared at her retreating figure but snapped back at a look from Frandral who then followed after the ladies. Volstagg looked around once more before he shuffled after his companions.

"Strange place," Frandral murmured when they were far away from the Collector and his aide. He eyed the glass cases with pity but said nothing.

"Owned by a strange person," Sif added looking around in disgust.

"With whom we’ve entrusted with the Aether," Volstagg pointed out with great reluctance.

“What’s done is done.” Aphrodite said in dismissal, though she couldn’t shake the feeling that there wasn’t something right with the Collector.

* * *

 

"They were very rude," The Collector's aide huffed after a moment.

"They are powerful my dear," The Collector attempted to sooth his aide. "Primitive, but powerful the same. Why, even Odin himself may be powerful enough to best me in combat." His tone here was slightly mocking though his aide didn't catch it. "Though," He smiled as held the container in his hands. "They do not understand what they let slip through their fingers."

"Yes, Lord Thanos will be pleased," The aide declared with a beaming smile and the Collector held back a grimace.

"Yes indeed," He murmured reluctantly though the excitement that began to build within him the moment he took this project bubbled to the surface as he commented further, "One down, five to go."

His smile broadened as he began to walk away with his aide in tow.

* * *

 

“How was the trip?” Heimdall questioned as the four of them exited the Bifrost as it deactivated.

“Interesting,” Aphrodite hummed to the gatekeeper.

“How so?” Heimdall questioned intrigued.

“The man was mad.” Frandral said bluntly.

“Yeah, basically that.” Aphrodite said pointing at the warrior. “But the Aether is out of our hands, that’s all that matters now.”

Heimdall nodded and turned his unblinking stare from the starry skies to Aphrodite. “It pleases me to hear that. And it might interest you to know, that you are being called upon by your friends on Midgard?”

“My friends?”

“The captain, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff and a group of soldiers that work for the organization known as Shield. They’re in need of assistance.”

Aphrodite gave him a confused look. “With?”

“It seems that through the portals opened by the convergence during your battle with Malekith, a few of the remaining dark elves found their way through. It looks to be too much for them to handle.”

“I see.” Aphrodite said nodding, then turned to look at the warriors two and Sif. “You all fancy one more trip?”

Even though they were Aphrodite’s friends, first and foremost they were warriors and it was their duty to protect the royals of Asgard. So they couldn’t exactly say no.

Frandral shrugged and answered for the three of them. “We’ve got nothing better to do.”

Aphrodite smiled and nodded to Heimdall who returned in kind before activating the Bifrost once again.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tessa: There will be more Steve moments to come. I so glad you're enjoying this story. And thanks for the suggested face claim.
> 
> Here is where we get into what I’m referring to as independent chapters that don’t really follow a movie storyline but that builds up to it. And are always a pain for me to write. But I will press on.
> 
> The few updates will come kind of sporadically, I’m aiming for every other day. But with me you can never be sure. If not I’ll update as I write them. Btw did you guys catch the little Infinity War Easter egg I threw in there? What do you think it means?  
> Leave me a review, as you can see I'll be answering the ones can. So feel free to say or ask me anything.


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Officially naming this chapter ‘The Filler-Upper’.

Shield’s Strike Team the, Special Tactical Reserve for International Key Emergencies team, were a group of men and women who specialized in taking out threats, that didn’t need to be handled by the Avengers.

In this particular case of the pale beady eyed strangers that the Strike team had been fending off for almost three days now, some help was needed. Evidently Fury decided that it was more than Captain America or the Black Widow could handle. Seeing as their bullets did next to nothing to deter the beings and they all but disappeared during the day.

Fury decided it was time to call in for some extra-terrestrial backup. But had any of the Strike team known that the only way to reach said backup was to yell at the sky and hope someone answered. Well they would have told Fury he was out of his mind.

Speaking of, Fury was standing close by in military pose treating this matter with the utmost importance despite how ridiculous it all felt.

And yet here they were here they were, watching with amusing smiles that were quickly turning bored as they watch Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff shout up at the sky, and nothing happened.

“Yeah, I don’t think anyone’s home.” Rollins called out earning muffled snickers from the surrounding Strike team members.

“Yeah, c’mon Cap. This was a waste of time.” Rumlow added speaking to the Captain instead of the director, he’d voiced from the very beginning how stupid of an idea this was, and if he spoke directly to the director himself he may end up saying some things he’d regret.

Steve sighed knowing he was right and he voiced as much as he and Natasha approached the Strike team who had begun to head to the exit of the roof but they all paused at the sound of distant rumbling thunder.

There was silence on the roof for a beat as everyone present, especially the Strike team who were unfamiliar with what the sound could possibly mean, besides rain.

Then the skies opened up and shot down a bright while beam of light, that looked very familiar to three of the people present.

When the beam disappeared and left behind its signature intricate markings on the roof of the Triskelion building, right it the centre of it was the Goddess herself. Along with three other people they weren’t expecting.

“You were saying Agent Rumlow?” Fury questioned smugly.

“Alright, maybe not.” Rumlow muttered in shock.

Then she was moving towards them with a bright smile.

“Director Fury.” Aphrodite said reaching out to shake his hand firmly.

“Aphrodite,” he respond in this typical gruff but not impolite tone. “You remember Captain Rogers and Agent Romanoff.”

“Of course.” She said nodding to her fellow Avengers.

“Hi.” “Ma’am.” They each responded respectively.

“Brought some friends along did you?” It was Natasha who nodded behind her to where Aphrodite’s fellow Asgardians were still standing looking around the city in interest. After all it had been centuries since any of them were in Midgard.

“Indeed I did. We were on our way back when we heard your call.”

“Back from?” Fury pressed.

“Business.” Aphrodite responded shortly.

“And they’re not gonna’ cause any trouble are they?”

“Certainly not.” Aphrodite spoke with a soft smile. “But I understand your hesitation.” She looked back at the other three Asgardians and beckoned them forward, “Lady Sif, Lord’s Frandral and Volstagg, warriors. Protectors of Asgard.” In response the three of them bowed their heads politely.

“Is there anyone else coming? A certain brother maybe?”

Aphrodite took in a slight breathe and looked off to the side before turning back to the director. “Loki is dead.”

If the Shield director was relieved at the news he didn’t let it show. “My condolence for your loss.”

“Thank you. I get the feeling though that you didn’t call for me just to chat.”

“No,” this time it was Steve who spoke up stepping forward. “We need your help.”

Aphrodite shrugged then smirked. “It’s nice to be needed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~~~READ ME PLEASE~~~
> 
> Alright guys I’m at a little bit of a blockage here, hence the short chapter and late update. And could really use your help as to what you’d like to see happen next.
> 
> As always let me know what you think and what you'd like to see in the future. Leave me a review too, I'll be answering the ones can. So feel free to say or ask me anything.


	32. Chapter 32

Aphrodite was an observant person by nature, when you've been alive as long as she had you develop a skill for reading people, and not in the way her powers and mind allowed her to. But more of an analytical way.

First and foremost, Shield were great fans of their acronyms. Starting with the name of the organization itself, then to the Special Tactical Reserve for International Key Emergencies team, Strike for short of course. Beyond that the men and women that composed of the Strike team seemed straight forward enough, the majority of them headstrong and focused solely on the mission in front of them. Nothing about them particularly noteworthy to look further.

Their leader was a man by the name of Brock Rumlow, average height and above average build by Midgardian standards, he seemed a competent leader and she could easily see where his team had derived their determination from. Through she couldn't shake the feeling of something sinister lurking beneath the surface of that one, and resisted the urge to read his mind and find out exactly what it was.

Natasha Romanoff was of course trained in hiding any and every aspect of herself that anyone could use against her. Whether it be in battle or in her personal life. So instead of being overly intrusive, Aphrodite observed the way she interacted with those around her, when discussing with the Strike team her guard was all the way up. But when she spoke with Steve she seemed slightly more relaxed, not by much. But she did seem to have an air of wanting to prove herself to the blonde man.

Then there was Steve Rogers, last time Aphrodite had seen him he had been trying to find his place in this new world. And by the looks of things he'd found it, for the time being. Or at least he was rather good at pretending.

All of this was taken in while all but two members of the group present gave the four Asgardians a wide berth. Clearly more than weary of them.

"Is Clint here too?" Aphrodite asked Natasha.

"No, he's away on a mission." The redhead responded shortly, but not impolite and Aphrodite nodded.

They were led to a large meeting room where Rumlow explained to the Asgardians in the room what they were called in.

"The Convergence." Aphrodite said at the end of his explanation, as if the answer was just that simple. Which it was, to four of them. "It's an astrological phenomenon that occurs once every five thousand years, it the only time in history where all the nine realms align. As a result the line between these worlds become blurred, opening portals that allow beings to move through the worlds freely." She recited.

"So can we expect more things like this to be coming here?" Nick Fury questioned, this was the exact type pf threat he'd been preparing for with phase 2.

"Not likely." Aphrodite responded shaking her head. "The convergence is normally a peaceful affair, often celebrated across the realms for those who know its history, and its meaning."

"If you say they can go through any of the other worlds, then why do these things keep coming back here?" This time Steve asked the question.

"I don't know. Dark Elves are a species we thought to be extinct, we didn't even know there was still life on their planet until very recently. And now their leader is dead, without their leader, they're without guidance. They run rampant. But the convergence is nearly over, as the portals begin to close they weaken become more difficult to traverse, I suspect the portal that connects Midgard to Svartalfheim is still strong enough."

"Why do they only come out at night?"

"Without their leader, they seemed to have reverted to their most primal nature. In ancient times Dark Elves couldn't bear sunlight, their entire plant stayed in constant darkness. Hence their name." Aphrodite recounted the story she'd read and been read as a child.

* * *

"I'm not sure how much I trust these people." Sif said to Aphrodite some time later. It was amoung the first words she'd spoken since they had arrived.

The Strike team had left to prepare themselves for the upcoming mission of tracking and taking down the Dark Elves.

"You don't have to trust them, trust me." Aphrodite responded easily looking back at one of her oldest friends. "In no time at all we'll be back on Asgard."

"I should hope so," this time it was Volstagg. "The harvest feast is fast approaching, and I for one would hate to miss it."

"Is there ever a time when you're not thinking about food?" Frandral teased his friend.

Volstagg gave a curious hum. "No."

The four of them laughed at Volstagg's well-known but good-natured confession, Aphrodite was still wearing an amused smile when footsteps approached them.

"Hi," she said to an uncomfortable looking Steve.

"Hey," he breathed. "Can I talk to you?"

"Sure," she said before glancing back at her friends giving them a look that they understood as they began to talk amongst themselves giving the pair some semblance of privacy as they walked a few feet to the windows that overlooked the city.

"I'm sorry about what happened to your brother." Steve said hoping not to sound as awkward as he felt.

Aphrodite tilted her head. "That almost sounded sincere." She said smiling and Steve let the tension in his shoulder drop just a little and a crooked smile graced his face. "I'm teasing. It's alright, I know that most people weren't the biggest fans of Loki."

"Still," he said nodding. "I know a thing or two about losing people you care about."

"Thank you." Aphrodite spoke while looking him over and finally saying what she'd noticed since they had arrived. "You look different." She told him and he looked down at himself. "No, not just the suit. You cut your hair."

He nodded and ran his hand through the shorter strands at the top of his head. "Yeah, I felt like it was time for a change."

"I like it," she said nodding in approval before giving him another once over, eyeing the dark navy suit with its silver accents. "And I like that suit too." She said smirking then turning to leave, missing the way that his neck flushed up to the tip of his eyes.

Casting a glance around the previously emptied room, save for the Asgardians and himself, he found Natasha staring near the door. Levelling him with a look that he was quite familiar with as a smirk twisted her features. Steve gave her an exasperated look in response, and hoped she wasn't thinking what he thought she was. And dreading whatever might've come out of her mouth next.

"Hey blue," she called across the room and Aphrodite and company turned to look at her. "We're wheels up in three minutes."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who wants to hear the list of face claims I've chosen for Aphrodite? Right now there are 3.
> 
> As always let me know what you think and what you'd like to see in the future. Leave me a review too, I'll be answering the ones can. So feel free to say or ask me anything.


	33. Chapter 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That moment when you've finally figured out where you wanna go with a story, but getting there is just *waves hand in no particular direction* so far.

The jet they were currently on was certainly no Asgardian Skiff, and the fact that they couldn't see who was controlling the jet or where exactly it was going was unnerving for Aphrodite's friends. She could sense their nerves even as they distracted themselves by preparing for what was sure to be a short battle for them.

"Your people any good with those?" Aphrodite asked Steve as she watched most of the Strike team members ready themselves in a similar manner, by with their guns.

"They're some of the best." Steve responded, "Yours any good with those?" he added nodding over her shoulder, to her friends' sword, spear and axe respectively.

"You'll soon find out enough."

"Cap," Rumlow interrupted whatever Steve was about to say next. "We've got about 12 minutes before these things show up again, like clockwork. Right now our best bet is discretion. Gives us the element of surprise, keep the aliens on board until the times is right."

"Alright I'll take point," Steve said nodding along with what the other man was saying as he adjusted his gloves, "With Nat, Rumlow you run support fill in where needed. We'll leave the fighting to them." Steve said nodding to the back of the jet. "Hang tight, wait for my signal." He told Aphrodite and she nodded.

"But for the record, Agent Rumlow." She called stopping the man as he began to leave. "We're Gods, not aliens." She said before turning and re-joining her friends on the other side of the jet.

"Strike," he snapped immediately ceasing the snickers that had started up in the jet. "Gear up."

* * *

Brock Rumlow did not like that woman, for one thing, he was completely against calling in the Asgardian- whatever they were- for this mission in the first place. He and his team could handle Santa's helpers on their own. But Fury thought it best, then when Cap and Romanoff backed him up and there was no turning back from that.

But what he didn't expect was for the people who showed up to be so, normal. Normal looking at least. He'd even go as far as to say that the one called Aphrodite was quite good-looking, he was a man, and he had eyes. As pretty a face as she was, she had a look about her that he couldn't ignore, one that said that she always knew something that everyone else didn't. It was the same look Romanoff wore, only the blonde woman's was more intense, but still subtle. And the Strike leader didn't think that was possible.

Bringing that up the Cap he could see was going to be useless, the big dumb blonde had had heart eyes for the woman since she'd arrived. Come to think of it, Romanoff wasn't doing too bad herself. No, he'd have to keep an eye on that woman, and keep it close to the chest too. That is if he wanted to stay on Cap's good side.

But first chance he got he was going to report that to Secretary Pierce and find out what he could about the Asgardian so called 'God', to find out if there was another person he needed to be cautious of.

* * *

"Leave it Sif." She chided upon seeing the other woman's glare. "Focus on preparing yourself for what's sure to be an entertaining bout."

"The Dark Elves are much less formidable than we thought. We learned that back on Asgard." Sif responded Frandral and Volstagg nodding along.

"I said entertaining, not lengthy."

"Aphrodite," Volstagg said nodding to the window he was looking out of. "Look."

The Dark Elves were there of course, the moment the sun had set the came by the dozens out of the sudden portal caused by the Convergence. And in the centre of the fray of elves was one elf in particular that bore striking resemblance to someone the Aphrodite knew quite well.

"Malekith's son." She summarized for her friends.

* * *

"Give up now mortals," Mirek, son of Malekith near growled. "Midgard will soon fall to darkness."

"I don't think so." Captain America responded easily.

"Give it time." Mirek said confidently but his confidence faltered when a shard crack suddenly sounded and the Asgardian the assisted in killing his father appeared taking out a few of his warriors when she arrived.

Distantly he heard a few more cracks and the sounds of battle amoung his warriors, she hadn't come alone.

"Asgardian." He sneered. "Do nothing!" he shouted to his comrades who had begun to move closer. "This one's mine."

"You overestimate yourself." Aphrodite smirked. "Your father did too."

"Woman!" He snapped. "I am not my father."

She just shrugged. "Let's find out."

He charged at her but she easily blasted him back.

* * *

Very quickly the remaining dark elves numbers began dwindling down, by the blades of the Asgardians or by the gunshots of the Strike teams. The species that was once of the brink of extinction were being rapidly forced even closer to that edge.

"You're people are being killed." Aphrodite spoke calmly to Mirek trying to get the elf to see reason. "Stop this. Or you'll be the only one left."

"No." Mirek shouted. "You will all pay for what happened to my father."

"Very well."

* * *

Once the dust had settled on the short-lived battle in London, just like Aphrodite had warned Mirek was the only one of his kind left. And was currently being closely guarded by Sif and the warriors two. The Strike team,Steve and Natasha had been sent to a separate room for mandatory debriefing.

"We'll take this one back to Asgard." Aphrodite told Director Fury, her tone leaving no room for argument, but the Director didn't see it that way.

"I'm afraid I can't allow that." He said standing.

"It wasn't a question Director."

"Look, I appreciate what you did by coming here. But my teams can handle this thing from here." Fury said gesturing to the elf.

"And yet you called me." Aphrodite pointed out. "You must forgive me for being weary, but after what happened with the Tesseract. You can understand why I'm not so inclined to leave another being in your possession."

"Even still, with everything that happened here, that thing needs to pay."

"And he will," Aphrodite stated with conviction. "But not by your hand."

Fury sighed, knowing from experience with Loki that these Asgardians were nothing if not stubborn with matters like this, "Fine." He said relenting.

"Always a pleasure Director."

With that and a sharp crack the four Asgardians and one dark elf disappeared from Fury's offices, then moments late the sky lit up and they disappeared from earth.

* * *

"Psionic energy manipulation, molecular distribution, telekinesis, and telepathy. And those are only the thing we know of." Secretary Pierce said tossing the folder of Dr. Selvig's notes behind him onto the desk he was leaning up against. "Who know what else she's capable of?"

"What does all that mean?" Rumlow asked the council member.

"In layman's terms, it means she can read minds. Which, for obvious reasons, could spell trouble for us." Pierce said looking his top man in the eye.

"If she went back to As-whatever, then we got nothing to worry about." Rumlow said shrugging off the man's concern.

"If Fury's going to make a habit of calling on some very outside forces to assist with some of our more advanced missions, we should be."

"What do you suggest?"

Pierce stared out of the window of his office for a long moment before responding. "Keep a distance from her. If she gets even a whiff of what you're thinking then were through before we even get started."

"Agreed." He knew that he was right to be weary of that woman, a mind-reader for Christ's sake. Just his luck.

"And don't share this with your team," Pierce added as Rumlow stood to take his leave, "Keeping them in the dark could be the safest way to keep the minds clear of our plans."

"Yes sir." Rumlow said respectfully.

"Come 'ere." Pierce said happily shaking the man's hand before pulling him in for a half hug, "Hail Hydra." He said lowly into the younger man's ear.

"Thank you for your time sir." Brock said with a smirk before making his was from the secretary's office.

* * *

Once back on Asgard, Aphrodite thanked her friends for their help as usual, then instructed the elf to be taken to the newly restored dungeons before finally heading up to the wing of the palace that housed the chambers of the royal family.

"Hello father." She said brightly upon seeing him walking the hallways.

"Hello my child," he responded just as bright, which was somewhat unusual Aphrodite thought as she looked at him strangely. "Back so soon?"

"Father we've been gone for days," she said shrugging off his odd behaviour, it was probably a delayed reaction to losing his wife. "The journey to Knowhere was far from easy."

"Oh, oh yes. The aether. Is it secure?"

"It's out of our hands at the very least."

"Very true. So back to Midgard for you know I supposed?" he questioned as they came to a stop outside of her bedchambers.

Aphrodite hummed. "I don't think so." She said entering the room.

"What?" Odin as Loki questioned in shock before clearing his throat when Aphrodite gave him that strange look again. "I mean, you're young my child. You should go, explore the worlds. There is peace across the realms for the first time in many years, there's no reason for you to stay here."

"I don't think so father." She responded shaking her head I'm going to stay a while longer, study a bit more so that when Thor eventually does take the throne I can do right by his council."

Loki sighed and muttered, "Well that won't do."

"Did you say something fath-" Aphrodite turned but was cut off what Loki reached out and placed his hand of her forehead, his thumb and forefinger on her temples as he dove into her mind. Though not without much resistance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not super proud of this chapter, but it's done and it accomplished what it was supposed to.
> 
> Writing battles is hard and so I didn't. Plus it really wouldn't have contributed much to the story anyways. But it's nowhere near as hard as writing for Nick Fury. Phew. Hope I did him justice.
> 
> Aphrodite face claims, will be in the next chapter.
> 
> As always let me know what you think and what you'd like to see in the future. Leave me a review too, I'll be answering/responding to the ones can. So feel free to say or ask me anything.


	34. Chapter 34

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two updates in one day for you guys being so patient with me.

_Thor sat patiently in front of Aphrodite's vanity in her chambers and busied himself toying with the items that lined the top, while she stood to his left working her fingers through strands of his hair._

_Aphrodite twisted the raven locks around with Thor's own golden hair and secured the top before continuing to work her way down the strand._

_"You know what he would say if he saw this?" Thor asked breaking the comfortable silence they had settled into._

_"Of course, 'I'm deeply touched.' 'I'm honoured'." They both laughed before the mood become more somber. "I still can't believe he's gone. Again." she added tapping on his shoulder to indicate she was finished._

_Thor stood and admired the strand of Loki's hair that was braided into his own. Then he turned back to face his sister._

_"You know he's been dead before." Thor pointed out smiling softly down at her._

_"If this is another trick," she began threateningly. "I don't think I could take losing him a third time." she said quietly at the end._

_"I know." he said placing his hand on the side of her neck and she took a deep breath. "Come now, if you start crying. I'll have to pretend to start crying."_

_Aphrodite laughed. "Don't ever change brother." she told him looking up at him and fixing his hair so that the strand hung over his shoulder, over his heart. As it should._

_Thor smiled softly at the motion. "I won't. I have something for you." he said reaching into a pocket near his side and pulling out a small object wrapped in green paper, he encouraged her to take it with a nudge. "It's only right that you should honour him as well."_

_Inside was a gold armband that was thin and wound around itself several times in an almost snakelike fashion before it curved up near the top in a very familiar symbol._

_Loki's helmet._

_"Do you like it?" Thor questioned shyly, almost nervously._

_Aphrodite opened the catch and secured the band on her left arm. "It's perfect. Thank you brother." she said before pulling him into a hug they both needed right then._

* * *

With a gasp Aphrodite jerked up and looked around her frantically but stopped when she was met with a splitting headache. Grasping her head she groaned and slowly took a look around so as to not aggravate her more.

First thing she noticed was that she was lying in the middle of the distinct Bifrost symbol, the next was that she was quite a ways away from a city that she vaguely recognized. Finally and most unsettling of all she couldn't remember how she'd gotten there

And though she was trying she couldn't reach Heimdall to bring her back, over at the very least get answers to the many questions running through her mind. Thinking about what may have happened only increased her headache, which worried her even more.

There shouldn't have been anyone in the universe that was able to get inside her head and manipulate her mind so easily.

Sighing Aphrodite pushed herself to her feet and made for the city she now could recognize as Washington. Though she doubted they'd be very much help at the moment, perhaps Shield was her safest bet for the time being.

* * *

Quickly, Aphrodite realized that finding her was to the Triskelion was a task much easier said than done. All the massive skyscrapers on Midgard looked the same to her, and she couldn't very well phase herself into the building for she was unfamiliar with the layout of it and could very easily end up inside a wall. Which -coming from no experience in particular- was not a fun place to be.

She sat herself down on a bench and stared into the large body of water before her intently as if it would hold all the answers to her current problems.

Idly she thought really the simplest option would be to track Thor's energy and join him wherever he was, but that would interrupt his time with Jane because he'd be so concerned with finding out what happened to his sister. And she couldn't, no wouldn't interrupt the time the two were spending together after not seeing each other in over a year.

It was dark when she woke, and dawn was fast approaching the rays of light just breaking out. Soon the city itself would come to life and she'd be forced to come up with a solution. Preferably sooner rather than later.

There were a few people out in the early morning jogging around the pool completely oblivious to the lost Asgardian woman only feet away. All but one.

Steve Rogers thought he was hallucinating when he glimpsed a very familiar looking figure seated on a bench during his morning run. But after passing by a third time, he knew without a doubt that that was Aphrodite, on earth again. Looking more run down than he could remember seeing her.

Not that he thought about the blonde woman often or anything.

"Aphrodite?" a confused familiar voice called from her left and she turned to see none other than Steve Rogers standing there.

"Steve," she said in shock as she stood before launching herself at him and throwing her arms around his shoulder in a much needed hug. Steve stiffened at the action then awkwardly patted her back and felt the flush creeping up his neck before she pulled back. "I'm sorry, it's just nice to see a familiar face."

"S'alright. Are you okay?" he asked concerned. "What're you doing here?"

"I don't know." she answered honestly, "I don't remember."

"What?" Steve said stepping closer and placing a hand on her arm where he brushed against the armband that was there. "What happened to you?" he repeated. And Aphrodite just gave him a helpless look. "Alright, c'mon."

* * *

Steve still had a few more laps to run before he could burn off his energy, and shake off that night's nightmares. But he couldn't very well leave Aphrodite in the state that she was, he liked to think they were somewhat of friends, and he could never do that to a friend.

He took her to a diner that he frequented a few days in the week after his morning runs and led her to a booth.

Moments after they sat a waitress approached them asking for their orders.

"Coffee, please. Black." Steve told her politely.

"What about you honey?" she asked turning to Aphrodite.

"Uh, I'll have the same." she said waving her hand in Steve's direction and the woman nodded writing it down on her pad before taking her leave.

"So uh, you think you wanna talk about what happened?" Steve asked gently after a moment of silence.

"Honestly, I don't think I can." Aphrodite said sighing. "This is all very strange to me. Someone has tampered with my mind and my memories, there isn't anyone alive that's able to do that. And Heimdall is either away from his post, or has been instructed not to answer me."

"Heimdall?" Steve repeated, question clear in his voice.

"He's the gatekeeper to all the worlds, he hears and sees all." Aphrodite explained easily. "In fact he's the reason I heard you calling me the other day." She said smiling softly.

"Right," Steve said ducking his head slightly before clearing his throat, "That guy."

They were interrupted by the waitress returning with a pair of mugs and setting them down before filling them both to the brim with coffee then setting the pot down as well. Aphrodite reached out and took the warm mug into her hands.

"Thank you." They both told her.

Steve immediately took a large gulp of the caffeine, Aphrodite followed suit but took a slightly smaller sip wondering if this was the drink Thor raved about having when he was in New Mexico with Jane.

After that first sip, she knew that this couldn't possibly be the same thing, the drink her brother talked about was in his own words delightful and delicious, this on the other hand was quite bitter and not at all delicious.

Her dislike for the drink must have shown quite clearly on her face if Steve's amused chuckle was anything to go by. "You don't like it?" he asked her.

"It's awful." She said setting down her cup.

"Yeah, black isn't for everyone." He said still amused reaching out. "May I?"

"Please." She responded eagerly letting him take the cup, and he grabbed a few things from the table and shook them into the bitter coffee, stirring it before handing it back. She gave him an apprehensive look before taking another tentative sip of the drink.

Then let out a contented sigh at the much more pleasing flavour.

"Better?" Steve asked still wearing an amused grin.

"Much. Thank you."

"You're welcome." Getting back on track he asked her. "Do you have any ideas, on why someone might have messed with your head?"

"None." She said irritably. "Although my father was acting a bit strange when I last saw him, but that could have been due to any number of reasons. Perhaps fate sent me here for a reason. I just have to figure out what that reason it."

"Well until you do, there's a spare room at my place. It's yours, if you want it." He hastened to add on.

"No, no," she hurried to decline not wanting to inconvenience him. "Steve I can't ask that of you."

"You didn't, I offered." He assured. "Plus, I wouldn't feel right letting a lady like yourself wander around all alone."

He man was persistent she'd give him that. "Thank you." She said appreciatively. "For all of this."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, face claims for Aphrodite are as followed:
> 
> 1\. Margot Robbie
> 
> 2\. Amber Heard
> 
> 3\. Rosie Huntington-Whiteley
> 
> Who do you guys think is best suited to be Aphrodite?
> 
> As always let me know what you think and what you'd like to see in the future. Leave me a review too, I'll be answering/responding to the ones can. So feel free to say or ask me anything.


	35. Chapter 35

“I’m sure it’s not what you’re used to.” Steve said adjusting the sheets on the bed in his guest room. Truly he’d never thought he’d have use for the room so he’d left it bare, luckily he had spare sheets in the closet. But he could only imagine the type of things Aphrodite had back on Asgard, she was a princess after all. Probably slept on silk or something equally outrageous, the bed most likely the size of this entire guest room and definitely not the full bed currently in there.

“It’s fine.” She said soothingly and he nodded straightening up from where he was leaning over and adjusting the sheets. “And I really do appreciate this.”

“It’s nothing really,” he assured her. “It’ll be nice to have some company for a while.” He rubbed the back of his neck, “So, uh bathroom is right outside, and I’m the next door down. If you need anything don’t hesitate okay?”

“I won’t.” she said beginning to examine the few contents of the room.

That was when Steve remembered he was still wearing his sweaty running clothes and took a quick look down at himself. “I’m gonna go hop in the shower. You need anything else right now? Clothes? Or?”

“I’m good, thank you.”

“Alright then. I’ll just-” He gestured to the door and she nodded and Steve left the room closing the door behind him, before blowing out a breath and shaking his head at himself then making his way to his own room.

When he came out of the shower he dressed himself in a comfortable pair of jeans and tee shirt then ventured out of his room to find Aphrodite kneeling down next to the coffee table flipping through his little notebook littered with different things that he’s been meaning to catch up on.

“Hey,” He called out by way of announcing his presence.

Immediately she looked up and snapped the book closed realizing a bit too late it was considered rude to go snooping through people thing. “Sorry.”

“It’s alright,” Steve said holding out a hand in a placating gesture and stepping into the living room before settling himself down on the floor next to her leaning his back against the couch.

“What is this?” Aphrodite questioned, figuring that he wasn’t offended by her looking through his little book.

“It’s a list of things I missed out on in the last 70 years, after I came out of the ice.” He explained briefly assuming that because of the Avengers initiative she’d received the same package that he did.

“Ice?” She repeated confused. “What ice? What happened to you?”

“You don’t know?” He asked shocked, clearly he had assumed wrong.

She shook her head “Uh-uh,” she hummed.

“Oh, uh well,” So with that he told her his story, both of them settling down comfortably on the hardwood floors. And thus began the start of a very interesting roommate situation.

* * *

 

Steve had thought at first it would be a difficult transition, going from living alone to living with a female roommate, in reality it was a seamless transition. In the months that followed, very quickly they both became quite comfortable with living with one another.

He’d lived in closer quarters than this back in the 40s with the Commandos during the war, but while he’d loved each of those guys like brothers, none of them were nearly as good-looking as his current roommate, since he’d seen her the first time in New York he had found her attractive. And recently he’d come to terms with the fact that he’d developed a crush on Aphrodite, and it was a daily struggle to not embarrass himself in front of her. Being in such close confines didn't help matters much either.

She was just so easy to be around and because of that he often forgot she wasn't of this planet. She just _fit_ so well. But there were subtle nuances that reminded him of that, like how he’d never seen her with a bag or anything of the sort, yet everyday she was wearing a different outfit. Like how she only ever wore heels, and if she wasn't wearing any she'd walk on the balls of her feet and still carried that regal air about her.

Then there were the more glaring cases where he would randomly here sharp cracks throughout the apartment that indicated her comings and goings. Sometimes she disappeared for hours at a time, and when she came back he never questioned her. Random things would float about the apartment when she was bored. There was also the fact that she was very curious about the world around her, Steve didn't think that there was another person alive that knew just about, if not less if this new world than he did. But there she was. And it was nice.

They learned together.

When he got back from missions they'd cross things off his list that she'd discovered together. Movies. Music. Books. Food. Whatever seemed appropriate that day or night.

And those were just the things that he might've considered saying aloud to anyone that asked.

What he'd keep to himself was the fact that he recognised that Aphrodite had the figure of the models of his time. The type of curves that made a man’s mouth water and he was no exception. He was a man at the end of the day, super soldier or not.

What he wouldn't admit to anyone was that he liked seeing her in her heels, especially when she wore skirts or dresses because of the way the made her already amazing legs look. And accentuated her shapely behind in a way that made him stop and take notice on more than one occasion. He’d never thought of himself as an ass-man, but here he was. In fact, quite shamefully, he’d stopped on bought a sketchbook on his way home from a mission one afternoon, and kept it hidden underneath his mattress as it was mostly filled with drawings of her, he knew it was borderline creepy and should at least asked her permission, he knew first hand that she was quite comfortable with her body, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. It was embarrassing and yet another thing he kept to himself.

What he'd keep to himself most of all, was the fact that he was selfishly keeping her all to himself. He knew he should report back to Fury that she was here. Hell he should've done that the moment he found her get her sorted out, maybe find Thor and let her be on her way. But he didn't want to, he liked having someone there when he got home from a mission, someone he could talk to and not have to worry about having to report back to someone else like he sometimes felt with Natasha. He liked learning how to work technology with someone in the same boat as him, so when he messed up she'd be none the wiser.

* * *

 

Living with Steve Rogers had been a drastic change of pace, both figuratively and literally. Back on Asgard if there wasn’t a battle to be fought, there was a celebration happening, if there wasn’t a celebration then she would be doing her expected duty of learning all should could for when it would come time for her to take over the council. The point was there was always something for her to do.

However on Midgard, specifically in this apartment things were calm, for lack of a better word. Calm for her at least, Steve was often gone on missions but never for more than a day. And when he got back they’d cross things off his list together.

Still she kept her mid occupied, she knew from experience that an idle mind, especially hers could be dangerous. She’d spent the bulk of her day when Steve wasn’t there trying to focus all of her energy and powers into figuring out exactly what that split second in between her speaking with her father and ending up on Midgard contained, but was continuously met with a block. She’d visit the Bifrost site frequently in hopes that it might stir up a memory but so far still nothing. Even still she’d casted an illusion on the symbol so that no mortal stumbled upon it.

She was well aware that she used that time to distract herself of the fact that whenever Steve wasn’t there, she often found her thoughts straying to him. And stray they certainly did, no matter what she did she couldn’t stop herself. Steve was kind, smart and incredibly handsome to boot. How had it taken her this long to notice?

The answer was, it hadn’t. Since New York she’d seen that Steve was a good man, with a good heart his attractiveness was just the icing on top of an already delectable cake. Learning about his past that first night months ago only solidified her thoughts about him. Any man willing to give up his life in order to protect however many millions of people. Was a man more than worthy of her affections.

* * *

 

Aphrodite quite enjoyed the sounds of rain and storms, for obvious reasons. Her brother was after all the God of Thunder, plus it hardly ever stormed on Asgard. Not by natural causes at least. So when she found herself being lulled from her sleep by a clap of thunder she simply took it in stride and got up from her bed venturing out of her room and out to the living room.

In the other room in the apartment Steve woke in a way that was drastically different from his roommates being forcefully jarred from his sleep by the thunder that painfully reminded him of war and much less naturally occurring booms. He sat up in bed breathing heavily as the lightening flashed and the power cut out only moments after. He cursed to himself under his breath and pressed his closed fists against his eyes vaguely noting that they were shaking.

He heard a slight rustling sound amidst the rain and suddenly remembered that he wasn’t alone in the apartment, reaching over into his bedside drawer he grabbed the flashlight that he keep handy and went out to check on her.

First he peeked into her room after knocking and after discovering that she wasn’t there went out into the living room.

“Steve?” she said suddenly and he whipped around still on edge, to find her standing in front of the couch staring at him curiously, though she flinched when he accidently shined the light in her eyes, quickly he moved the flashlight aiming it downwards.

“Hey, powers probably going to be out for a while, you all right?”

“Yes, I’m fine but,” she said before looking him over once again, “Steve you’re shaking.”

Unfortunately he was indeed still shaking, so badly in fact that the beam of the flashlight had started vibrating in time with his body’s movement.

Before he could come up with a lame excuse that she would undoubtedly see right through, she approached him easily and carefully taking his arm and tugging him along back to the couch. “C’mon.” she sat him down and perched next to him, taking the flashlight and turning it off. Not saying a word as he tried in vain to control his breathing.

She kept his arm draped across and ghosted his fingertips up and down his forearm, feeling the goosebumps that formed there.

“When we were young, and Thor was barely in control of his powers, he would make it rain and storm on Asgard completely at random times. But there was some good to come of his misfortunes, because now whenever I hear thunder, or there’s a storm. I think of him, and I feel connected. That’s what I see. What do you see?”

“I see the war,” he said shakily. “It all sounds like, explosions, gunshots. It’s like I’m there living it all over again. It felt real.” He was getting himself worked up again.

“It’s not,” she said moving her hand down to take his, where he squeezed it tight, if he was coherently enough he’d probably ease up for fear of hurting her but he needed to feel grounded, he needed the connection. “There is beauty in all things. Try and find it.” She instructed gently moving her other hand to the back of his head to play with the hair there.

“I don’t think I can.” He croaked.

“Listen,” she whispered and so he did, the thunder had stopped thankfully but the rain pelting against the glass windows sounded much too similar to the sound of gunshots that echoed in his head. “Calm your mind, listen to the rain for what it is. Peaceful.” True the rain was started to settle down, nowhere near a light drizzle but not nearly as aggressive as it was moments ago. He’s breathing started to even out and it could be because the storm was started to ebb, but it could also have been because of her voice, calm and steady and soothing, like if she’d just keep talking then nothing could touch him. Add that to the list of things found so attractive about her.

Aphrodite meanwhile was adding a few more things to her own list. The first and soon to be at the very top was that chiselled body of his, up until that point she’d seen him in nothing other than casual clothes of jeans and t-shirt, the occasional sleeveless top that showed off his muscular arms, and of course his stealth suit that she had already expressed affections for. But up until that point she’d never seen his shirtless form. He had body that could rival the literal Gods that she knew, and he was sweaty and therefore glistening in a way that made her mind run wild with all sorts of scenarios that it had no business conjuring up. She’d just about managed to pick her jaw up from the floor and actively fight the urge to drop to her knees for him long enough to recognize the look in his eye. That haunted effected stare that she’d seen before on one too many occasions.

Steve took a deep breath and let it out through his nose finally losing some of the tension in his shoulders.

“Are you with me?” she asked him in the same hushed tone that she’d been using on him all the while, keeping her running through his hair.

“Yeah,” he responded just as quietly releasing the tight grip he hand on her fingers but still keeping them grasped in his. “Thank you.”

“Your welcome.” She said smiling, but she knew that she still had to keep his mind occupied in order for him not to stray. “Tell me something.”

“Like what?” He questioned.

“Anything, tell me about the good times with your friends. The commanders?” she pressed purposefully messing up the name so he’d have something to go off of.

“Commandos,” he corrected his lips quirking in slight amusement. He knew what she was doing, and it made in all the more grateful. “The Howling Commandos,”

And that was how they waited out the remainder of the storm, with Steve regaling her with tales of him and his teammates from back in the 40’s, only the good stuff though. He refused to let his mind turn to the atrocities he and his team committed in their fight against Hydra. No, he couldn’t burden her with that, not that night. Not after the way she’d just pulled him back. Instead he held her hand and told her all his happy memories of his rag tag group of friends, which was a lot more than he had realized.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So according to the always reliable internet, Winter Solider (which is the next movie in this story) takes place in 2014, which is 2 years after the events of the original Avengers film which took place in 2012, with Thor: The Dark World happening during 2013.
> 
> With all that in mind the next few chapters will take place during the time in between The Dark World and Winter Soldier, which is roughly 1 year.
> 
> All that is going to take place within about 2-3 chapters that I have planned out including this one then we’ll dive right into Winter Soldier. With that being said, there will (hopefully) be a lot of fluffy moments with Steve/Aphrodite with a sprinkle of angst here and there, because come on, of course there will be. So if there’s anything you’d like to see there, any interactions or moments you’d like to see them have, please don’t hesitate to let me know.
> 
> Also how would you like to see Sharon introduced to Aphrodite?
> 
> Also as of right now the between the votes on AO3 and FF.net, where this story is also posted, it’s Amber Heard: 4, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley: 3 and Margot Robbie: 0. If anyone else wishes to vote on Aphrodite’s face claim, speak now for forever hold your piece.
> 
> As always let me know what you think and what you'd like to see in the future. Leave me a review too, I'll be answering/responding to the ones can. So feel free to say or ask me anything.


	36. Chapter 36

After that night things were different between them, they'd shared such an intimate moment that it was impossible for there not to be a marked difference.

The dynamics of their relationship changed too. But neither of them addressed it, they just enjoyed it.

“Good morning.” Aphrodite said as she strolled into the kitchen one morning one of the following, Steve hadn’t gone for his morning run as he usual would around this time. Instead he was sat at the table with numerous papers scattered around him.

“Morning.” Steve said glancing up at her then back down at the papers in front of him.

Aphrodite, who was nothing if not inquisitive approached him from behind and rested her hands on his bare, broad shoulders, “What’s all this?”

“There’s a museum here in D.C., the Smithsonian,” he began, leaning back into her hands as she started to massage his shoulders, the tension in him all but melting away as it like to do whenever she touched him. “They want to curate an exhibit about Captain America, the experiment, the war, the ice. Everything they could, they’re just waiting for my approval.”

“Are you going to give it to them?”

“I don’t know.”

“How do you feel about it?”

“Shield seems to think it’ll be a good idea.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

Steve sighed, “I feel like I’m just now getting used to the world again. If I do this it could to change everything.”

“Only if you let it.” She shot back.

“It won’t just be Captain America, they’ll see Steve Rogers too.”

“From what I understand you were the world’s first superhero, they want to remember you as that, commemorate it. You should be honoured.”

“I am,” and he really was. It was just, he’d lived in the 21st century now with some semblance of privacy. Everyone saw Captain America and not Steve Rogers. His ‘secret identity’ wouldn’t be a secret at all anymore.

“Then let them honour you, the only way they know how.”

“Will you go with me?” He asked rolling his head so that he could look at her over his shoulder.

“Of course.” She responded staring down at him. “Do you want to go there now?”

“Yeah,” he said blowing out a breath before standing. “Before I lose my nerve.”

It took them no more than 20 minutes to get themselves together then they were downstairs and outside the apartment where Steve kept his motorcycle parked.

Neither of them really needed helmet so he climbed on first on started the engine then gesturing for Aphrodite to get on behind him. She did, swinging her leg over the seat before settling down behind him, Steve glanced back over his shoulder before reaching down and around Aphrodite’s knees and pulling her closer so that she was pressed flush against the length of his back. Then took her hands so that they were wrapped around his waist.

“Hang on.” He told her lowly and she nodded, before he revved the engine then took off into the street.

* * *

 The exhibit curator was all too happy to hear that Steve had approved of the exhibit and insisted that they get started immediately on what could be shown in the displays, artifacts that were kept in storage were brought out and he was also given a list and told to just check off the ones that he was okay with being displayed in the exhibit.

Some of the things they’d found in the ice along with him, others had been kept after he went MIA then presumed dead.

In short, it was a lot to take in. Yet it was like taking a welcomed and long overdue trip down memory lane. Until he got to an item that hit him like a punch to the gut. It was his compass, and when he opened it, Peggy’s picture was still stuck to the inside. Even after all this time.

“Is this them?” Aphrodite’s voice cut through the fog gathering in his head, and he turned to see her approaching, holding a picture in her hands. “The Commandos?”

“Yeah it is.” He said clearing his throat then pointing out who each man in the photo was.

“Nice to finally put some faces to those names.” She told him prompting a small smile, but it was half hearted at best. “Who’s that?” she questioned nodding to the still open compass in his hand.

“Her name’s Peggy,” He said softly.

“She’s beautiful.” Aphrodite said, and she really was. And judging by the tone in Steve’s voice he was an important person from his old life, he only got that way when talking about his loved one’s from the 40’s. “Is she, gone?” she asked gently.

“No, she’s not. It’s complicated.”

Aphrodite nodded and sensed from his tone that now was not the time to talk about such topics, so she decided to switch it. Catching sight of the perfect distraction she let out a long exaggerated gasp, quickly Steve looked up to see what had caught her attention, without thinking about it he slipped the compass into his pocket.

“Is that your old uniform?” she asked approaching the mannequin that was wearing his original 40’s uniform, the last time he remembered seeing it was before he went into the ice. After that it was the revised suit given to him by Shield, which Coulson had a hand in designing. Then his stealth suit which he used on missions with the Strike team.

“Hey, c’mon don’t laugh.”

“I would never.” She responded smiling still.

“You don’t like it.” He teased her

“No, no. I think it suits you.” She said smiling at him, Steve’s response was cut off by the curator seeking his attention.

“Captain Rogers,” he said moving closer. “I think we have enough to start off with, but you’re welcomed back anytime. Well inform you on when we’d like to open to the public.” As the man spoke Steve got distracted by something out the corner of his eye.

“I don’t remember this being on the plane.” Steve joked approaching the record player and opening it up see the excellent condition it was in.

“No sir, it was given to the museum some time ago for one of our past exhibits, we ended up not using it and then some of the higher ups thought that it might have a place in this one. But we’re still having trouble finding a place for it.”

“I can imagine.” Steve said, and he could understand the man’s frustration. It must have been difficult for the museum to find a place for such an item. Especially in what was going to be an exhibit honour and American war hero.

“If you want, it’s all yours.”

“Really.” He asked incredulously.

“Yeah, think of it as a gift from the museum. And sort of a thank you, we knew you were a bit on the fence about the exhibit and we really do a appreciate you saying yes.”

“It’s an honour.” Steve said repeating what he and Aphrodite had spoken about earlier today.

The man nodded, “If you’d like to leave your address I can have it sent there by tomorrow night.”

After writing down the address to the apartment Steve thanked the man one last time before

“What was that about?”

“Just a little something to spice up the place.” Steve said smiling in a way that said it was more than just that, she didn’t get a chance to respond as he began leading her from the museum.

* * *

 “What do you want to do tonight?” Steve asked as they were climbing the steps back to the apartment ready to settle in for the night.

Aphrodite sucked in a breath through her teeth, “We could finish those movies.” She suggested.

“Which ones?”

“Saw.” She said grinning, according to his little book and the internet there were at least four more of those movies to go.

“No.” he immediately deadpanned. He hated those movies so much, but she seemed to love it. He still couldn’t believe the amount of sequels that were made.

“Why not?”

“I don’t like them.” He responded as they approached the floor the apartment was on. “We still haven’t finished Star Trek.” He suggested.

“ _I_ don’t like those,” she declined this time. “I told you they’re not an accurate depiction of what space is like.”

“Right, right.” He said nodding, she had been quite adamant that those movies were slandering the beauty that was outer space. “Rocky?” he recommended.

“Rocky.” She agreed nodding.

“ _All I wanna do is go the distance,”_ A different voice chimed in and suddenly there was a woman on the landing with them. Blonde hair a shade or two darker than Aphrodite’s, shorter than her as well but not quite as small as Natasha. Very pretty too. “Sorry, I heard Rocky and couldn’t resist,” she added suddenly embarrassed. “I love that movie. Steve.” She greeted.

“Kate,” he responded politely. “Oh by the way this is,”

“Aphrodite.” The taller blonde woman interrupted extending her hand.

Kate took her hand and shook it surprised by the strength behind the grip. “Oh wow, like the goddess Aphrodite?”

“Exactly like that,” Aphrodite said smiling releasing her hand. “Kate was it?”

“Yeah, uh, I’m Steve’s neighbour.” Kate said feeling the need to say something, anything to this woman. Then looking back and forth between the two of them, taking in their posture and the tail end of the conversation she’d just heard. “Your Steve’s girlfriend?”

Steve himself felt his face heat up and shot a wide-eyed look over at his companion but she had an easy smile on her face. “No, I’m just staying with him for a while. Family trouble.” It wasn’t an entire lie.

“Oh, well I hope it all works out.” Kate said sympathetically.

“Thank you.”

Kate then looked down at her phone which was buzzing. “Sorry to cut this short, but I gotta’ get to work. It was nice meeting you.” She said quickly making her way to the stairs.

“You too.” Aphrodite called out.

“Goodnight Steve.”

“Have a nice night Kate.” He said in response. When he turned back around he caught the slight glint of something in Aphrodite’s eye.

“She seems nice.” Was all she said before continuing on to the apartment leaving Steve to trail behind her.

Outside Kate, or rather Sharon Carter leaned up against the wall and took a deep breath hoping that her cover hadn’t been blown. When she’d receive the briefing package on Captain Rogers, the Asgardian woman named Aphrodite was listed as an affiliate, but she didn’t think that she’d actually meet her. She didn’t even know that the woman was on earth, obviously neither did Fury.

What was more concerning was the fact that listed at the very top of Aphrodite’s file was the fact that she was a mind-reader. Praying now that she was in the clear, she set off to the Triskelion to report back on the latest developments.

* * *

 “You don't talk about Asgard much.” Steve said handing her a cup of tea.

“There not much to talk about.” She responded taking the cup as he settled himself on the other side of the couch. “It's big, it's old and it's golden.”

“C’mon, you're a princess.” He urged. “Surely you'd have some stories that could top mine?”

“Well I wouldn’t want to embarrass you,” she teased. “Your few years of war are nothing compared to mine.”

“Hey, how old are you?” he questioned suddenly genuinely curious. He was aware that she and her brothers came from stories of legend, but hadn’t ever really given much thought to the idea that some of the stories were true. Especially the ones that dated back thousands of year.

“You never ask a lady her age, Steve,” when he opened his mouth to protest she cut him off. “I’m not telling you.” She said in a tone of finality.

“Tell me something.”

Aphrodite thought for a moment. “One of the very first battles I even took part in was the battle of Vanaheim, my people went to war with the Vanir. My father wanted to unite the two realms, the way they once were, the Vanir refused. . .”

* * *

 “Before the serum I was colour-blind.” They’d migrated to the kitchen, sitting on the floor between the counter and the island facing one another. Steve was leaned back against the counter with his legs spread in front of him nearly touching the island across, Aphrodite was sat in between his legs.

“Hmm, I have a missing knuckle.”

“Really?”

“Mhm.” She hummed offering him her right hand where the aforementioned missing knuckle was, Steve took it and grazed his thumb over the spot where the knuckle used it be.

“How?” He questioned lowering his hand but keeping their fingers loosely intertwined.

“Punching a Kronan.”

“Which is?”

“Rock monster?”

“Ah.”

* * *

 “Did you have any siblings?” Back to the living room they went, Steve insisting that the only way for them to sit and continue to trade stories would be to place the couch cushions all along the floor and lay out on top of them.

“Just Bucky.”

“You two were very close.”

“He was my brother, blood or not.”

“Thor and Loki? Just the three of you?”

“Yes, believe we were more than enough. I still applaud my mother for getting us through to adulthood, those two especially.”

“C’mon it couldn’t be that bad.”

“Thor used to pick up random snakes outside the palace. And Loki used to stab Thor every chance he got. And I mean that quite literally. Once Loki transformed himself into a snake, because he know that Thor loves them, and then . . .”

* * *

 “I can’t get drunk.” Steve said strolling back into the living room totting a bottle of whiskey along with a pair of glasses.

“No.” Aphrodite gasped dramatically.

“Unfortunate truth.” He said pouring them both a glass. “My metabolism burns four times faster than the average human. Cells regenerate and burns off all the alcohol. The joys of being a super-solider.”

“And Asgardian.” She chimed in taking the glass as he sat.

“You can’t get drunk either?”

“No, I can. Just not with your alcohol. It’s far too weak.”

Steve nodded in understanding. “Well,” he said raising his glass. “We can both still enjoy a drink.”

“Cheers.” She said tapping her glass against his. “Please tell me you at least got drunk before the serum.”

“Sweetheart, I was a 100 pound asthmatic, getting drunk was one of the easier things I could do.”

* * *

 “Can you like, turn it on and off?” Steve asked after she told him the full spectrum of her abilities. He was most interested in telepathy.

“Something like that.” She shrugged.

“Have you ever read my mind?”

“No, I’ve found that over the years most people find it quite rude, and intrusive.”

“How many people, can you? You know?”

“I can read the minds of every person in this building if I allowed myself. Everyone in Washington if I tried, the world if I really wanted to. But there is a price, as is with everything,”

“What’s yours?”

“Sleep, it’s nearly impossible to do when you have over a billion voices in your head, feel everything they’re feeling. So I impede it, now I can only hear what I want.”

“That’s amazing.”

She smiled. “Mostly it’s a pain in the ass.” That got him to let out a real laugh. “One of the joys of being me.” She repeated what he’s said earlier in the night back at him.

* * *

 “Do you get beat up in every alley in Brooklyn?” Aphrodite questioned through her laughter as he finished telling yet another story of him getting beat up when he was small.

“Seems like it sometimes.”

“Did you have something against just leaving, running away?”

“You start running, they’ll never let you stop.” Steve said remembering a conversation very similar to this happening 70 years ago. Along with that came the realization that the feelings he’d had for Peggy were intensified tenfold when he was with Aphrodite.

“But Bucky was _always_ there to save you?”

“Hey, I had every one of those guys on the ropes.” he defended knocking back the reminder of his drink.

“Sounds like you did.” She teased.

* * *

 “Will you do me a favour?” Steve questioned, they’d shifted again still in the living room but now Aphrodite was leaning back against the couch and Steve had his head in her lap and she was carding her fingers through his hair. The bottle was less than a quarter full and neither of them felt a thing. But Steve enjoyed it, it was familiar.

“Hm?”

“Ask me something personal.”

She hummed thoughtfully as she thought about topics that they hadn’t touched on yet. “What’s your mother like?”

“Ma was very beautiful, smart, kind, compassionate,” he said turning the glass over in his hands.

“Before or after?” she asked knowing that he knew what she meant.

“Before, she was a nurse and she caught tuberculosis from the ward. Nothing we could do.”

“And your father?”

“Died before I was born, he was a soldier in the 107th, he was killed on the front lines. Mustard gas attack.”

“Is he the reason you wanted to be a solider?”

“Yeah,” he said nodding. “Ma used to tell me all the time that I was just like him, it only seemed right that I would follow in his footsteps. All I ever wanted to be was a soldier.”

* * *

 “Have you visited her? Peggy? After you came out of the ice?” Outside the apartment the barest hints of daybreak were peeking out over the horizon but neither of them paid it any mind.

Steve took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Yeah I did.”

“What happened?”

“Some days are better than the others. Sometimes I go there and she remembers I’m alive, and others she just cries.”

“When was the last time you saw her?”

“Right after I came to DC. It was” he paused. “She thought I was a ghost.”

* * *

“If you hadn’t taken the serum. What do you think you would have been doing?”

It was a loaded question but Steve knew the answer immediately. “I’d be an artist.”

“Really?” She asked sitting up from her reclined position jostling him slightly in the process from where he was still laying with his head in her lap.

“Yeah. I uh- I have a major in the fine arts.” He confessed.

“Do you still draw?”

“No, no. I don’t.” he immediately declined.

“You’re lying.” She said eyes slowly widening, and nudging him so that he sat up. “You are lying.” She said again smiling as she slowly shifted beginning to rise up.

“No, I’m not.” He continued to deny mimicking her movements and starting to sweat a little, if she found his book and what he’d drawn he wasn’t sure what he’d do.

“Where is it?” She questioned this time.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

They stayed like that, at an impasse for a beat. Luckily Steve was placed between her and the hallway he thought as he stared her down challenging her, daring her to try and get past him. He knew without a doubt that she could probably accomplish the task quite easily, but he wasn’t going down without a fight either.

She was the first to move, in a blink she was up and dashing past him. She was faster by that much and was down the hall quickly and he was right on her tail. Just his luck today was one of the days when he’s left his book out on top of his bed for all the world to see. Right away she grabbed the book and made to open it then suddenly he was behind her scooping her up with one arm and grabbing the book with the other as she squeal.

“Ah, ah.” He reprimanded, hiding the book behind his back when she wriggled free and tried to grab it once again.

“C’mon I want to see it.” She pleaded. Fighting and reaching for his arms when he brought them up and the book over his head.

“No,” he said playfully, and he couldn’t wipe the big stupid grin off of his face if he tried. She was pressed against him, very close to climbing him like a tree in her fervour to try and grab the book, he’d be lying if he said he didn’t like the feeling.

But Aphrodite had a few tricks up her metaphorical sleeve, she had two older brothers, both of whom were significantly taller than her and liked to tease her with this very same action on more than one occasion.

“Oh my,” she said suddenly serious staring at something past his shoulder, immediately Steve went on the offensive dropping his arms slightly.

“What?” he said looking over his shoulder as well. Of course it was a trick, he thought as she snatched the book with a noise of triumph and dove across the bed to the other side so that it was between them. “Wait, wait. Aphrodite,” he begged and tried to warn but it was too late. She’d already opened the book and started flipping through the pages.

He was quite talented Aphrodite thought as she thumbed through the pages of the book in her hands. Building that she’d seen all around Washington stared back at her, the New York skyline, Stark Tower, renamed at the Avengers tower. And a handful of other little doodles scattered about.

The nest page was where things started to changed, because it was her. Sitting on the couch reading one of the many books in the apartment. Standing at the kitchen counter making coffee. A detailed sketch of her side profile. Of course she’d been drawn before, there were painting all over the walls in the palace in Asgard. But none of them had ever felt or looked this, intimate.

Just like that the mood changed from playful to something else.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Steve said rushing around the bed to stand in front of her. “It’s not what you think. I’m not a creep. You’re just so beautiful and I can’t help but- No that sounds bad. You’re not, no I mean you are beautiful, but I don’t want you to think that,” she cut him off thankfully before he could force his foot any further down his throat by placing one slender finger against his lips.

“This has to be the creepiest,” Steve nodded and hung his head but she forced him to meet her eye with a finger under his chin. There was a heavy look in her eye that he couldn’t quite place but it seemed to reassure him that his feelings may not be entirely one-sided, “Or the sweetest, most adorable thing I’ve ever seen.”

“Wha- Really?” he stammered and she nodded. “Well, thank you?” he said tone turning confused at the end.

“Your welcome.” She said softly offering him back his book which he took and stared down at for a beat. Before looking back up and meeting her eyes again. Then he noticed the inches between them decreasing rapidly as she leaned in.

He hoped with everything that was in him that she was about to kiss him, he didn’t know what he’d do if she did, probably spontaneously combust. But he didn’t care, he just wanted her lips on his.

But he didn’t get it. Instead she pressed her soft lips just at the corner of his own mouth and stayed there for a long moment before pulling back.

He stared at her and wanted nothing more than to grab her and pull her back in pressing his lips to hers and kissing her until neither of them could breathe, but he didn’t. What he did do was he took in a shuddering breath and tried to savour the feeling of her lips for as long as he could.

“Goodnight Steve.” She said in what was nearly a whisper as she began to brush past him to leave the room.

“Goodnight,” he said gruffly. “Aphrodite.” He added, mostly to himself as she was already gone and distantly he heard the sound of the door to the other room closing and his shaking legs finally gave out no longer willing to support his frame as he dropped down heavily onto the bed and flipped through the pages in his sketchbook.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Margot Robbie is officially out of the race, which is funny considering when I first though of Aphrodite she was the face claim that I had in mind. Then time went by and I discovered a whole world of beautiful blondes that could portray Aphrodite. But for now its:  
> Amber Heard – 6  
> Rosie Huntington-Whiteley- 6.  
> Don’t let that stop you guys from imagining Aphrodite any way that you like, that’s the beauty of imagination, it’s yours. But just in case anyone was wondering I write Aphrodite with Rosie in mind, just who I preferred, plus she already has the accent for the cause.  
> As always let me know what you think and what you'd like to see in the future. Leave me a review too, I'll be answering/responding to the ones can. So feel free to say or ask me anything.


	37. Chapter 37

The record player turned out to be an amazing addition to the apartment. Steve was happy to have a piece of technology that he was quite familiar with and could operate seamlessly, and he wasn’t ashamed to say that he did show off a bit in that regard.

And Aphrodite was making the most of the record player one night after their dinner, she was messing around with the vinyl’s until she’d found one suitable to what she wanted. Once she did she stood swaying to the soft tune that rang out.

She turned to see Steve leaned up against the doorway to the kitchen smiling softly as he watched her. She smiled and sauntered over to him taking his arms and unfolding them from where they were crossed against his chest.

“Come and dance with me.” She said tugging him further into the living room.

“I don’t know how.” Steve said blushing while staring down at his feet.

“I’ll show you.” She said, fully ready to do just that when Steve suddenly froze and his face fell. “What’s wrong?”

“I can’t,” was all his said gripping her hands once before letting go. “I’m sorry I can’t.”

“Can’t what? Dance with me?”

“No, it’s not that.” He swiped a hand frustrated down his face. “I- I’m sorry.” He rushed out again before brushing past her and quickly retreating to his room.

Steve closed the door to his room and leaned against it wanting to bash his head against the wood. He didn’t know what just came over him, but the truth was he had wanted to dance with her. Wanted it more than anything in that moment. And he knew it was silly but could it be that he hand finally found ‘the right partner’, and he was just too scared to admit it to himself. Just like he was too scared to admit that his crush on her had grown exponentially and his strong feelings continued to grow every day.

He felt his guilt increase tenfold when the music suddenly cut out and a few seconds later the door to the other room quietly shut.

* * *

 Aphrodite tried very hard not to feel as rejected as she did, but it didn’t work. You’d think someone that could read minds would have figured out a way to turn their own off, but sadly that wasn’t the case. Truth is, she was hurt. She was fast developing feelings for Steve and they’d been steadily growing closer each and every day. But he couldn’t or wouldn’t dance with her?

It didn’t make any sense.

Even with the sting of rejection still very much present, Aphrodite couldn’t find it in herself to listen to Steve’s grunts and groans as he was caught in the throes of what could only be another nightmare for very long before she got up out of bed.

She was never good at hearing people she loved suffer.

* * *

  _“I gotta’ put her in the water.”_

_“Please don’t do this.”_

_“This is my choice.”_

_“7:30 at the Stork Club.”_

_“I still don’t know how to dance.”_

_“I’ll show you how.”_

_“Steve?”_

_“Steve?”_

“Steve!”

He shot awake at the feel of a warm hand shaking him and a different but familiar English accented voice speaking to him.

“You’re alright.” She told him, but he really wasn’t. It had been a while since he’s had that particular nightmare and he had a feeling that the earlier events of the night triggered it. And she still came to him, even after the way he’s hurt her. If there was any doubt in his mind about his feelings for her they were all erased now. “You with me?” she asked.

“Yeah. I’m with you.” He stated with conviction.

“Do you want to talk about it?” She asked him, it was near routine now. If she woke him from one of his nightmares they would sit and talk about it, sometimes for hours. But not tonight, he didn’t want to burden her with anything else.

“I- uh, no.”

Aphrodite did her best to mask her shock. “Alright then, I’ll just go.”

And Steve let her, because he was a goddamn idiot that still to this day had no clue how to talk to a woman. But she wasn’t just any woman, she was an Asgardian princess and goddess that he was absolutely falling in love with.

* * *

 When Steve got up the next morning he quickly dressed and rushed out the door. There was someone he needed to talk to, there was only one person who could give him the kind of advice he needed right then and it couldn’t wait until he was done with Shield.

When he arrived at the nursing home the nurses on duty gave him bright smiles and informed him that it had been a while, and that he was earlier. Once he apologised for his lack of appearance as of late he asked them how she was doing, and they today him that today looked like it was going to be a good day. She was coherent and had even asked for him.

Peggy Carter’s bright smile as she greeted him told him that she remembered that he was alive, and would make this conversation a whole lot easier.

“I messed up Peg, I messed up real bad.” He concluded after telling her that everything that happened last night.

“We all make mistakes Steve. Do you care about her?” Peggy had a smile on her face the entire time that was genuine and heartfelt.

“So much.” He admitted for the first time out loud.

“Then tell her. And dance with her Steve, for god’s sake.” Steve laughed a little and Peggy smiled tired of seeing him look so serious all the time, she reached out for his hand and held it gently. “If there’s anyone in this world that deserves happiness, it’s you.” She said looking straight into his eyes so he could feel the impact of her words.

“Thank you Peggy.” He spoke sincerely. In some subconscious way Steve felt like he might have been betraying Peggy, by loving Aphrodite. But he realized now that Peggy had lived her life, and it was time for him to do the same.

“Come now, you’ve talked about this girl too much for me to not know what she looks like.” Peggy teased and Steve blushed. “Would you happen to have a photo?” Luckily he did, when he figured out how to use the camera function on his phone they’d both had a lot of fun, as a result the phone’s storage was mostly full of pictures of her. He told her he was going to delete them. Only he didn’t know how. At the time. Which wasn’t a lie. At the time.

Steve pulled up one of his favourite photos of her, holding the phone steady so Peggy could see clearly. “Oh Steve, she’s gorgeous.” She gushed. “You’re a lucky man.”

“Not yet I’m not.” He said sadly locking the phone and putting it away

“Then what are you doing talking to an old bird like me? Go to her.”

“I’d love to Peggy, but I gotta’ go to work.” He said glancing at his watch before shaking his head.

“Do those people ever let you take a break?” she teased. “Then the moment you see her, tell her how you feel.” Peggy instructed firmly.

“Yes ma’am.”

* * *

 Steve heard the now familiar sounds of a pair of heels clicking against tiles and hid a smile. Instead not turning around as he spoke to her, fiddling with the file in his hands. “You know, a lot of people spent a lot of money and effort into making this a secure facility.”

“I know, it was very impressive. They should be proud.” Aphrodite said coming to a stop near him.

“I’ll pass along the message.” He responded finally turning around to face her.

“In their defence it is hard to defend against someone that can walk through walls. And believe me many have tried.” She quickly added on hoping for that crooked smile that she was coming to adore to grace his face, which it did. “Something important going on?” She questioned looking around the room that he’d just held a meeting with the Strike team.

“Nothing more than usual. What’s going on?” he said placing down the files and turning so that his leaned against the table making them nearly the same height.

“I actually came here to talk to you.” She finally said.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s about last night.” Steve nodded and steeled himself for whatever she was going to say next, “I wanted to see if you were okay. After all that, and then you weren’t there this morning.” what she did say next though shocked him. “If I overstepped, or did something wrong I am sorr-”

Steve’s head snapped up and cut her off before she could apologize for something that wasn’t her fault. “No, no, no doll listen.” He took both her hands in his and pulled her closer. “Last night I felt horrible for hurting you like that,”

“Steve you didn’t-” She went to defend but he gently cut her off.

“Please let me finish. I woke up later than usual an had to rush out the door, I should of told you, or left a note or something. I’m sorry.” He stressed. “But I like you, Aphrodite, and I just wanna do it right.” He finally said.

“Well you’re doing something right.” She said smiling and moving between his legs to hug him around his shoulders as his own arms wrapped around her back. “And I like you too.” She spoke into his ear and the two technically very old people laughed at their somewhat juvenile declarations. “There’s one more thing.” She said pulling back slightly to look him in the eye. “I’m bored.” She stated making Steve’s eyebrows raise. “I can’t stay inside that apartment another day while your off saving the world.”

Steve snorted. “Hardly, but maybe I can arrange something.” He said looking at her through his lashes, before a loud clearing of someone’s throat made them spring apart like they had been caught doing something naughty rather than just talking.

Luckily, or maybe unluckily it was just Natasha looking quite comfortable and highly amused leaned against the doorway. “Rogers.” She said nodding to the Captain in question.

“Romanoff.” He said in response resting his hands on his belt in hopes that his confident stance would help dismiss her of noticing the blush on his cheeks. It didn’t but she didn’t comment on it either.

“Sup, blue?” She said nodding to the woman behind Steve.

“Hi red.” Aphrodite said peeking out and waving from behind Steve’s broad shoulder.

Natasha nodded like she had finally figured something out. “So this is why you won’t go on any of those dates I tried to set you up on?”

“Dates?” The blonde woman asked looking back between the two of them. “What dates?”

Steve narrowed his eyes at Natasha before turning to face Aphrodite. “Nothing, she’s kidding.” He was quick to reassure.

“He’s right I’m kidding,” Natasha said moving further into the room. “But nice to see the reason you’re always so eager to come back here after mission.” She said taking a seat and making herself comfortable.

“Please go, before she gets on a roll.” Steve said taking Aphrodite’s hand briefly who was looking far to amused at the moment.

“Alright,” Aphrodite nodded. “But I want to show you something later.”

“I’ll be there.” He nodded and without giving it a second thought especially to Natasha who was watching them back and forth like tennis match, lest he chicken out he pressed a quick kiss to her cheek.

“Bye red.” She said to Natasha who wriggled her fingers with her accompanying smirk, and once she gave Steve’s hand another squeeze she was gone.

“Don’t start.” Steve warned Natasha, turning his back on her and pretending to look busy, but he should have known better.

“Oh come on, you look like a teenage hanging out with their crush for the first time,” she teased. “You’ve gotta’ give me something.”

“Something like what?” Steve asked over his shoulder at her.

“How long has it been going on?”

“Nothing’s going on. It’s not - we’re,” Steve sighed stopping himself.

Taking pity on him before the old man had an aneurism she asked, “So it’s still new?”

“Yeah something like that.” he responded distractedly.

“Well I think it’s adorable,” and that was the truth. She’d noticed a change in Steve these last few months but couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was. “And for what it’s worth, I’m happy for you.”

“Thank you, and could you just keep this between us?”

“Sure, you can trust me.” Natasha responded easily and Steve did nothing to hide his shock at the declaration. “And if you need any advice, feel free to come and find me.” She said standing and following him towards the door.

“Advice?”

“You know, gift ideas? Planning dates? Best sex positions?” she said the last one so casually that it may have been an added reason as to why Steve choked on nothing and she tried her best to stifle a grin. “If you need the birds and the bees talk, I’m here for you Cap.” She said patting his shoulder.

“Please stop.” Steve nearly begged but he knew well enough by now that she wouldn’t. But he couldn’t lie, it was nice to see the teasing playful side of Natasha. Even if it was at his expense.

* * *

 It wasn’t until later that night long after dinner and approaching the midnight hour that Aphrodite indicated that she was ready to show him whatever it was she needed to. “May I?” Eagerly took her hand in his, wanting that contact with her he so desperately craved. Then with a sharp crack they were both gone.

Steve stumbled slightly as he landed. Shaking off the disorientation and slight nausea he felt. “You alright.” She asked sympathetically to which he just nodded.

 “Where are we?” Steve questioned taking in what just seemed to be an empty field.

“I’m not quite sure.” She responded. “Somewhere outside of the city.”

“What’re we doing?” Steve asked her more than a little confused.

Aphrodite smiled and crouched down gesturing for him to do the same, he did and stared out at what looked to be just another field of grass. After a moment of silence between them he was about to question her more, before the grass shimmered and melting away revealing the symbol of the Bifrost. Then it clicked.

“This is how you got here.” He said in realization.

“Yes,” she responded even though he didn’t phrase it as a question. “I come here most nights to think. Ponder. Reflect.” She listed standing up to more to the centre of the symbol before laying down there and looking up at the stars. “I want to remember Steve.” She said as he came to lay down on his back beside her.

“Tell me something.” He said nudging her shoulder with his.

“How much do you know about stars?” she asked glancing at him then up at the constellations above them.

“Nothing.”

“A long time ago, mother used to tell us stories about the constellations, what they were named for. What they represent. Who they were named after.”

“Did you know any of them?” he asked only half joking, from what he understood about stars and constellations they were named after Gods from Greek mythology.

She laughed as she could tell he was kidding. “No, they were before my time.” She joked right back, and Steve squinted at her.

“Which is?” he drawled.

“I’m still not telling you.” She said glancing quickly at him.

“When we were kids Bucky and I used to sneak out on the roof of the apartment, and pick out pictures in the stars. And when it got too cold to go outside he’d cover a flashlight with a drainer, so we’d have stars in the apartment.” He reminisced. “Do you see these same stars on Asgard?”

“I think so. The universe, it isn’t finite it changes. But the stars, they’re infinite. Always constant, never changing.”

“That’s beautiful.”

“Mother said that.”

She took his hand again and with a sharp crack they were back in the apartment, bouncing from the impact onto Steve’s bed.

“Hey,” he said nudging her slightly again. “They’re gonna’ come back.”

She looked over at him, then leaned over slightly to press a kiss to his cheek. “Thank you, Steve.”

He nodded before rolling over onto his side to face her fully, she did the same and they just stared at one another for a beat and Aphrodite took note of how Steve’s blue eyes practically glowed in the darkness of the room.

Steve found himself indulging in what little he could see of her from the moonlight streaming into the room from the window. His eyes flickering down to her lips more than once noting how pink they were and how soft they looked.

He eyes flicked back up to meet hers and caught the shy look only moments before he registered her leaning in, he took the initiative to do the same and their lips met in the middle in a kiss that was short and sweet.

She pulled back only enough to look him in the eye again, her eyes bouncing back and forth between his before leaning in and connecting their lips once again, and his hand slip to that curve of her hip that he’d admired more times than he’d care to admit, where he gripped it to pull her closer, as one of her hand came up between them to rest on his chest.

He broke the kiss this time both of their breathing only the slightest bit heavier. She leaned her head against his chest and his arm left her hip to wrap around her back.

“We should get some rest.” She whispered into the darkness.

“Yeah, we should.” He responded but neither of them moved for a while, it was silent in the room with only the sound of their breathing as they laid tangled in each other. He thought she had fallen asleep and was dozing of himself when she shifted and began untangling from his grasp. She sat up and made to leave the bed but his hand shot out before he could think to stop himself and grabbed her wrist.

“Stay,” he pleaded voice soft and thick with sleep and sounding far more arousing than it should. “Please.”

She nodded and flicked her hair over to one shoulder so she could lay down comfortably on her side facing him once again. Once she was settled he reached out in the space between them and took her hand again. They remained like that, both of slowly drifting off into unconsciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright friends, starting Monday we will officially move into the Winter Soldier storyline. Finally!  
> Then I will hopefully go back to my updating everyday schedule (If I’m not too exhausted after work). So leave me some predictions of what you think could happen or what you’d like to see happen.  
> As always let me know what you think and what you'd like to see in the future. Leave me a review too, I'll be answering/responding to the ones can. So feel free to say or ask me anything.
> 
> Btw here's the picture of Aphrodite on Steve's phone that he showed Peggy  
> http://c.igte.ch/?u=http://www.trendus.com/Content/Images/News/NewsDetail/rosie-huntington-whiteley-uggin-kampanya-yuzu-oldu-97340-1162016153114.jpg


	38. Chapter 38

Sam Wilson was a simple man, who enjoyed his morning runs. Partially because the bustling city of Washington DC was mostly silent at the time, and partially because he still had trouble sleeping. Also there was the fact that there was usually no one around to see him in a panting sweaty mess.

That's why; during his usual morning laps he was surprised to see another runner on the track. As he glanced up all he could see was her back, a nicely toned back at that, a pair of dimples showing just above the waistband of her pants, which brought his eyes downwards to a set mile long legs in a pair of sneakers, was what gave him an extra push to catch up to her.

"Hi." Sam greeted once he caught and matched her speed.

"Hello." She responded with an odd English accent.

"You normally run this early?" Sam asked trying to make conversation, while trying to cover up his laboured breathing. "Haven't seen you around before."

"Not really." She responded. "A friend, brought me out here."

Sam made a noise of understanding then held out his hand. "Sam Wilson."

She took it and gave it one shake. "Aphrodite." Sam's eyebrow quirked up in surprise but remained impassive. "Nice to meet you."

"You too."

Sam kept pace with Aphrodite but found it hard to keep up with her and run, and talk at the same time, letting her fill up the silences between them. When the sound of hard fast footfalls approached from behind them.

"On your left." They breathed as they zoomed past.

Sam panted wondering who in the world was so gassed, so early in the morning, then to glance at Aphrodite to see her smothering a smirk.

"I never tire of looking at these." She commented as they rounded the monument.

"You're not from around here, are you?"

"Not exactly."

Again the sound of heavy footsteps came as the same man zipped past them again. "On your left."

"Uh-huh. On my left. I got it." Sam called after him.

Aphrodite didn't even try this time and laughed at the slight look of frustration on Sam's face.

Not long after they were making a lap around lake at the base of the memorial. And Sam gritted his teeth at the wholly unwelcomed sound of footsteps behind him once again, he looked over his shoulder and saw the fast approaching figure. "Don't say it. Don't you say it!"

"On your left."

"Come on!" Sam shouted the tried his hardest to pick up his speed to match that of the other runners but failing miserably after only a few moments, now completely gassed out.

"Are you alright?" Aphrodite asked laughing as she approached his hunched over figure.

"Who the hell even is this guy?" Sam asked gesturing to where the other runner once was.

"Take it easy Sam, we can't all be super-soldiers." Sam breathed a laugh before straightening up carefully. "Let's sit you down somewhere." She said leading over to a tree where he slumped down at the base breathing hard with a hand on his chest.

"Need a medic?" A voice teasingly came from behind.

"I need a new set of lungs." Sam chuckled breathlessly. "Dude, you just ran like thirteen miles in thirty minutes."

He looks to Aphrodite sheepish. "Guess I got a late start." He said like she was too blame when technically it was him that slept in.

"You should be ashamed of yourself. You should take another lap." Sam scolds jokingly. "Did you just take it? I assume you just took it."

"What unit were you with?" He asked changing the subject and motioning to Sam's shirt.

"Fifty-eighth, Para-rescue. But now I'm working down at the VA. Sam Wilson." He say motioning for help up.

"Steve Rogers." Steve informs as he helps Sam up.

"I kind of put that together." Sam says as he tries to catch his balance. "Must have freaked you out, coming home after everything."

"It takes some getting used to. Good to meet you Sam." Steve said placing his hand on Aphrodite's lower back and beginning to lead her away.

"It's your bed right?" Sam called out.

Steve paused and turned back around. "What's that?"

"Your bed. Too soft." Sam went on to explain. "When we were over there, we'd sleep on the ground, used rocks as pillows. Like cavemen. Now I'm back home, in my own bed, feels like-"

Steve cut him off. "Like lying on a marshmallow, feels like I'm gonna sink right through to the floor." Aphrodite smiles sympathetically, she knew all too well of Steve's trouble sleeping since she started living with him. "It's getting better." He said casting a quick glance at Aphrodite. "How long?"

"Two tours." Sam responded. "You must miss the good old days huh?"

"Well, things aren't so bad. Foods a lot better. We used to boil everything. No polio that's good. Internet so helpful, we've been reading that a lot tryna' catch up."

Sam nods. "Marvin Gaye, 1972, 'Troubleman' soundtrack. Everything you've missed jammed into one album."

Steve nods and pulls out his little notebook of things that he's missed and has been trying to catch up on, along with Aphrodite. "I'll put it on the list."

As he writes his phone vibrates from his pocket and he pulls it out to see a text message from Natasha. 'Mission Alert. Extraction imminent. Meet at the curb :)' Is what it says then shows the phone to Aphrodite who reads it over.

"Next time?" she asks him teasing.

"Next time." He confirms pocketing the phone. "Well Sam, duty calls. Thanks for the run. If that's what you wanna call running." He jokes extending his hand.

"Oh that's how it is?" Sam says amused shaking the offered hand.

"Oh that's how it is." Steve responds.

"Okay, anytime you two wanna stop by the VA. Make me look awesome in front of the girl at the front desk, just let me know."

"I'll keep that in mind." Steve says as Natasha pulls up in her black sports car.

"Hey guys," She says rolling down the window. "Anyone know where the Smithsonian is? I'm here to pick up a fossils." Natasha jokes at the expense of Steve.

"Hilarious." Steve comments dryly as he climbs into the car.

"How you doing?" Sam calls with a smile as he squats down to get a better view of both Natasha and the car.

"Hey." She responds with a small smile.

"Can't run everywhere." Steve jokes smugly.

"No you can't." Sam says and just before Natasha drove away Aphrodite caught Steve's eye and shot him a wink and he responded with a smile.

"Sam," she said bringing his attention to her. "Tell me more about the VA."

"What would you like to know?" He responded offering her his arm in a chivalrous manner.

* * *

"The target is a mobile satellite launch platform: The Lemurian Star. It was sending up the latest payload when the pirates took it. Ninety-three minutes ago." Strike Team leader Brock Rumlow debriefs.

"Any demands?" Steve questions.

"A billion and a half."

"Why so steep?"

"Because it's SHIELD's." Rumlow says shrugging like it was common knowledge.

"So it's not off course. It's trespass." Steve summarizes staring down at Natasha hoping she could give some reasoning.

"I'm sure they have a good reason." Natasha says calmly.

"You know I'm getting a little tired of being Fury janitor." Steve says dryly.

"Relax, it's not that complicated." Natasha reassured.

"How many pirates?" Steve questions Rumlow.

"Twenty-five. All top mercs. Led by this guy, George Batroc." He says pulling up his photo on the monitor. "Ex- TSGE, Action Division. He's at the top of Interpol's 'red notice'. Before the French demobilized him. He had thirty-six kill missions, this guy's got a rep for maximum casualties."

"Hostages?" Steve questions.

"Mostly techs. One officer, Jasper Sitwell. "Rumlow says pulling up Sitwell picture also." They're in the gallery."

"What's Sitwell doing on a launch ship?" Steve mutters to himself, before he starts to give out orders. "Alright I'm gonna' sweep the deck and find Batroc. Nat kill the engines, wait for instructions. Rumlow, you sweep the aft, find the hostages, get them to the life pods. Get em' out. Let's go!"

"Strike, you heard the Captain. Gear up!" Rumlow orders his team.

"Secure channel seven." Steve speaks into his communicator as the approach the ship.

"Seven secure." Natasha responds. "So, you do anything fun Saturday night?"

"Well all the guys from my barbershop quartet are dead so no, not really." He jokes smirking as he adjusted his earpiece.

"That's not what I meant, and you know it." She responded fixing her gloves. "How's your girl?" she added casually.

"She's good. Not my girl yet though." He said slamming his fist down on the doors to the jet as he was informed that they were coming up on the drop zone.

"Then make it official ask her out. I'm sure she'd say yes."

"That's why I don't ask." He responded heading towards the opening.

"Too shy or too scared?" Natasha questions shouting to be heard over the sound of the rushing wind.

"Too busy!" Steve shouted back gesturing to the open door before jumping from the jet.

"Was he wearing a parachute?" A Strike Team member asks in alarm.

"No, he wasn't." Rumlow confirmed laughing.

* * *

Aphrodite was in the apartment alone reading on the couch, she didn't expect Steve to be back until later that night, tomorrow morning the latest. That's how long these kinds of ops usually take, and that's why she was shocked to see him come stomping back into the apartment.

"Hey, you okay?" She asked him once he set down his shield seeing the familiar crease in his eyebrows as made his way over to the couch lifting her legs and sitting down before settling them in his lap. "What happened?" she repeated setting aside her book.

He let out a heavy breath and began telling her everything, from the extraction op that turned out to have Natasha having an entirely different mission of her own, the explosions, confronting Fury, the Insight helicarriers and what Shield's plans for them were.

One thing at a time, Aphrodite thought to herself. "You can't blame Natasha, she was just doing her job."

"When is retrieving intel more important than people's lives?"

"I'm not saying it is, I'm saying don't be so hard on her. She has a job to do same as you. Maybe not exactly the same, and Fury. He's a special case, he's just doing what he thinks is right."

Steve sighed but nodded. "I wanna know who I could trust."

Frowning Aphrodite reached out and gently turned him to face her, "You can trust me."

He took her hand in his, "I do trust you." He pressed a kiss to the back of her hand before looking at the clock across the room. "You wanna get out of here?" he asked and she nodded eagerly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Debated for a while on whether or not to put Aphrodite in the fight on the Lemurian Star, in the end decided against it. Btw this takes place literally the day after the last chapter.
> 
> https://hips.hearstapps.com/harpersbazaaruk.cdnds.net/17/01/2048x2048/square-rosie-hw-marks-spencer-activewear-04-1.jpg?resize=320:*
> 
> As always let me know what you think and what you'd like to see in the future. Leave me a review too, I'll be answering/responding to the ones can. So feel free to say or ask me anything.


	39. Chapter 39

"A symbol to the nation. A hero to the world. The story of Captain America is one of honour, bravery and sacrifice," The narrator at the Smithsonian museum says as Steve and Aphrodite enter the Captain America exhibit. "Denied enlistment due to poor health, Steven Rogers was chosen for a program unique in the annals of American warfare. One that would transform him into the world's first super soldier," the Narrator continues.

Steve stands still in the centre of the museum for a moment just taking it all in before turning and noticing Aphrodite wasn't next to him anymore.

He turned to see her standing looking at one of the photos of him before the serum that transforms into the after effects of the serum. The body he has now. As if feeling his eyes on her she turns and begins making her way back when Steve notices something just behind her. There is a young boy looking up at him in awe, Steve smiles at the boy in return and puts a finger to his lips to indicate the boy to keep quiet. The boy nods in return while they turn to continue looking through the exhibit.

He leads them to one part of the exhibit that has an older looking motorcycle, than the one Steve currently has, on a platform and some older footage playing beside it. The footage is of Steve in his older Captain America uniform, also currently on display, running through a battlefield.

"In this rare footage, everyone's favourite war hero, Captain America," the old footage recording starts before Steve leads them away once again. To a display of mannequins of Steve and the Howling Commandos. "Battle tested, Captain America and his Howling Commandos quickly earned their stripes. Their mission, taking down HYDRA, the Nazi rogue science division," the Smithsonian Narrator informs.

"Best friends since childhood, Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers were inseparable on both school yard and battlefield. Barnes is the only Howling Commando to give his life in service of his country," the Smithsonian Narrator's seems far too short for a proper homage in Aphrodite's opinion.

Looking at Steve she can see the sadness in his eyes, and rather than comment on it she just grips his hand and lays her head on his shoulder hoping to provide a sense of comfort.

* * *

"That was a difficult winter. A blizzard had trapped half our battalion behind the German line. Steve, Captain Rogers, he fought his way through a HYDRA blockade that had pinned our allies down for months. He saved over a thousand men, including the man who would, who would become my husband as it turned out. Even after he died, Steve was still changing my life," Agent Peggy Carter stumbles slightly through the interview that is being played in a separate room from the rest of the museum. Despite the fact she smiles slightly at the end its cleat to see that talking about Steve affected her a lot.

"I can see why you care about her so much," Aphrodite told Steve gently.

"Yeah, she is." He agrees nodding slightly, then glancing over and lacing their fingers together once again wordlessly saying what he could not. Then he suddenly gets an idea, "Do you wanna meet her?"

Aphrodite's mouth drops slightly at the question. "I'd be honoured."

* * *

Steve thought to himself that it could only be fate that he had caught Peggy on not one, but two good days. That's where he is now, sitting at Peggy's bedside looking at her family photos. While Aphrodite waited outside.

"You should be proud of yourself, Peggy," Steve looks at the picture of her husband and children as he speaks.

"Mm. I have lived a life. My only regret is that you didn't get to life yours," Peggy smiles regretfully. Steve only smiles lightly at this but doesn't say anything. "What is it?"

"My whole life I've just wanted to do what was right, I guess I'm not sure what that is anymore." Steve looks down slightly. "And I thought I could just throw myself back in and follow orders, it's just not the same."

Peggy chuckles at this, "You're always so dramatic." Steve rolls his eyes. "Look you save the world, we rather mucked it up." Peggy admits.

"No you didn't." He denies. "You know, knowing that you helped found SHIELD is half the reason I stayed." Peggy sighs takes Steve's hand in hers.

"The world has changed and none of us can go back. All we can do is our best, and sometimes the best that we can do is to start over."

"I can't thank you enough Peggy." Steve say earnestly, then glances over his shoulder towards the door. "There's someone here I want you to meet."

She brightens up and beams at him. "Is it her?"

Steve smiles at her excitement and nods, "Yeah." Immediately Peggy shoos him away demanding he open the door right away and not leave his girl waiting a moment longer.

When Steve opens the door Aphrodite is standing there nervously wringing the fingers of her right hand against her left. He gives her what he hopes is a calming smile and gestures for her to enter the room.

Nervously she approaches the bed to the chair that Steve was just sat in, "Hello, you must be Peggy. It's an honour to meet you, I've heard so many wonderful things."

"I've heard the same about you," Peggy said in awe. "Forgive me your name escapes me."

"Aphrodite," she responds easily.

"Beautiful name darling."

"Thank you."

Steve felt a knot in his chest loosen at their easy interactions. For some strange reason he thought that the woman he loved in the past and the woman he was falling in love with in the present meeting each other would be awkward, or dare he say uncomfortable situation. But he should have known better.

He zoned back in just in time to catch the end of Peggy's sentence and see Aphrodite nodding in response. ". . . and don't you dare forget it." Peggy starts to cough towards the end. Steve quickly gets her a glass of water from the table and rounds the chair Aphrodite was sitting in to try and hand her the glass.

"Peggy," he mumbles. She suddenly looks at Steve as if she's seeing him for the first time since he was unfrozen.

"Steve?" Peggy breaths out in an amazed yet broken voice.

"Yeah," Steve whispers.

"You're alive! You, you came, you came back," Peggy whimpers. Tears were gathering in her eyes at this point as she tried to hold them back.

"Yeah, Peggy," Steve responds forcing a smile onto his face, his luck had run out.

"It's been so long. So long," Peggy cries giving up on holding back her tears.

"Well, I couldn't leave you. Not when you owe me a dance," Steve smiles a small reassuring smile at her.

* * *

Even after the emotional but still successful visit with Peggy, Steve decided that there was one more thing left to do before they went home.

"Hi, we're looking for Sam Wilson?" Aphrodite said smiling brightly at the young woman behind the front desk who glanced up then did a double-take unable to quite take in who she was seeing.

"He's uh," she said stammering as she looked back and forth between the super-soldier and the goddess in front of her. "He's still in group therapy. But he should be finishing up real soon, if you wanna wait." She said quickly.

They both thanked her and she just nodded dazed like she was caught in a dream, or a fantasy.

Steve and Aphrodite approached the room the young woman had indicated Sam would be in, and stopped just outside the doorway, not wanting to draw attention. Just listening carefully as the woman who was speaking finished her story. "The thing is I think it's getting worse. A cop pulled me over last week, he thought I was drunk. I swerved to miss a plastic bag. I thought it was an IED,"

"Some stuff you leave there, other stuff you bring back. It's our job to figure out how to carry it. Is it gonna be in a big suitcase or in a little man‐purse? It's up to you," Sam advises the group, his words carrying a lot of meaning. Then he happens to glance to the doorway and caught sight of them standing there, he shifts he stance subtly but makes no move to acknowledge them there, instead he closes out the meeting with a few more remarks and she and Steve wait for him as he says goodbye to all the veterans.

"I'll see you next week," the female veteran says waving goodbye.

"Yeah," Sam nods in response.

"Yeah," she mumbles walking away.

As she walks away Sam turns towards and begins to head over. "Look who it is. The running man and my pretty new friend." Sam jokes slightly.

"Hey." Aphrodite greets.

"Caught the last few minutes. It's pretty intense," Steve comments.

"Yeah, brother, we all got the same problems. Guilt, regret," Sam answers. As his sentence went on his voice got more serious and softer.

"Have you lost someone?" Aphrodite questions.

"My wingman, Riley. Fly in the night mission. A standard PJ rescue op, nothing hadn't done a thousand times before, till RPG knock Riley's dumb ass out of the sky. Nothing I could do. It's like I was up there just to watch," Sam tells them, pausing to cross his arms over his chest, his posture tense. "After that, I had really hard time finding a reason for being over there, you know?" Sam continues on.

"But you're happy now, back in the world?" Steve questions.

"Hey, the number of people giving me orders is down to about zero. So, hell, yeah," Sam jokes loosening up slightly, before getting a bit serious, "You thinking about getting out?"

"No. I don't know. To be honest, I don't know what I would do with myself if I did," Steve answers shaking his head a bit.

"Ultimate fighting?" Steve laughs at Sam's suggestion but doesn't say anything. "It's just a great idea off the top of my head. But seriously, you could do whatever you want to do. What makes you happy?" Sam questions curiously.

Straight away Steve knew the answer turning his head to look at the woman standing by his side and smiling in a way that Sam was sure he just sprouted a few new cavities.

"I think I just got my answer." He said teasing.

"Stop by the front desk on your way out," Aphrodite told him smirking and he raised an eyebrow in question,

"We asked for you by name." Steve clarified.

"She seemed thoroughly impressed." Both of Sam's eyebrows rose at that and he looked down the hallway towards where the front desk was.

"You two are the best." He said a smile stretching across his face as he began to turn to head down the hall. Stop by anytime."

"Anytime." Steve said in amusement as Sam jogged his way down the hall.

* * *

"You know Nat keeps telling me I should ask you out on a date." Steve informs as they ascend the stairs toward the apartment.

"You say that like it's a bad thing." Aphrodite teases holding onto the hand that wasn't digging into his pocket to retrieve his keys while dancing herself in and out of this reach. "What's stopping you?"

"Nothing." Steve responds with a smirk, as he decides what the hell. "You busy Friday night?"

Aphrodite sighs and looks to the ceiling pretending to contemplate. "Hmm. No."

"How about then?" Right across the hall the door opens and the neighbour, Kate, is on the phone with someone looking ready to head out and do her laundry.

"I'm there."

"That's so sweet," Kate suddenly says. They look over at her in confusion thinking she was talking about them. "That is so nice. Hey. I gotta' go, though. Okay, bye," she hangs up and then turns to them, "My aunt, she's kind of an insomniac." Steve smiles and nod and Aphrodite does the same despite not know what exactly that was.

"If you want you can use our machine," Steve offers before adding jokingly. "Might be cheaper than the one in the basement."

"Oh, yeah? What's it cost?" She jokes back.

"Nothing," Steve says with a kind smile.

"Thank you, but I already have a load in downstairs actually, and you really don't want my scrubs in your guy's machine. I just finished orientation in the infectious diseases ward, so," she trails off with a playful look of disgust on her face.

"Ah, well, we'll keep our distance," Steve responds still joking.

"Hopefully not too far, don't wanna' lose some of my best neighbours." she chuckles. They nod in return before turning to head into the apartment. "Oh, and I think you guys left your stereo on," she suddenly says.

"Oh. Right, thank you," Steve nods in thanks towards her.

"Yeah," she says before leaving.

Once she's gone Steve and Aphrodite turn to each other with a look of confusion, they didn't have a stereo, only the record player. Steve motions for her to stay quiet and they climb through a window in the hallway then to the one in the apartment, where Steve has his shield propped up which he grabbed.

They walk into the living room, where the music was coming from, to see Fury sitting on the couch in the dark.

"I don't remember giving you a key," Steve sighs leaning against the door frame.

"You really think I'd need one?" Fury scoffs before informing, "My wife kicked me out."

"I didn't know you were married," Steve said voice still hard.

"I didn't know you were either." Fury shoots back with a meaningful look towards Aphrodite. "Plus there are a lot of things you don't about me," he added casually.

"I know, Nick. That's the problem," Steve grumbles walking forward ignoring Fury's comment on Aphrodite being his wife and flipping on the light switch, that's when they are able to see Fury's injuries. Aphrodite gasps slightly and moves to get closer to help him but Fury indicates for her to stop and the both of them to stay quiet. He turns off the light again and types something on his phone. He shows it to them when he's done;

'EARS EVERYWHERE'.

"I'm sorry to have to do this but I had nowhere else to crash," Fury says looking around a bit. He types something else up on his phone and shows it to them:

'SHIELD COMPROMISED'.

"Who else knows about your wife?" Aphrodite questions this time keeping up the charade.

Fury shows us another text;

'YOU TWO AND ME'.

"Just, my friends," Fury grunts in pain while getting up and walking closer to them.

"Is that what we are?" Steve narrows his eyes at him.

"That's up to you." Fury replies.

Out of nowhere there's the sound of gunshots and Fury groans then collapses, Steve quickly rushes forward and pulls him into the kitchen, out of the way of anymore possible shots. Aphrodite kneels next to him and tries to check him injuries through this black clothing when he reaches up and hands something to Steve.

"Don't, trust anyone," he coughs before passing out. They both look at was Steve was handed and sees that it was the flash drive Natasha was saving data on from their last mission. Then there's the sound of someone breaking into the apartment. Steve quickly moves into a defensive position and raises his Shield.

"Captain Rogers? Aphrodite?" Kate's voice suddenly calls out and they watch her cautiously walk in with a gun pointed. "I'm Agent 13 of SHIELD's Special Service," she informs.

"Kate?" They both question in shock.

"I'm assigned to protect you," she continues.

"On whose orders?" Aphrodite snaps.

Kate stops seeing Fury lying on the floor. "His," she goes to Fury and contacts someone through her radio, "Foxtrot is down, he's unresponsive. I need EMTs."

_"Do you have a twenty on the shooter_?" A SHIELD agent questions through the radio.

That's when there is movement on the other side of the window, on the roof adjacent to the building. There's a flash of silver and the shadow a figure running across the rooftop.

"Tell them I'm in pursuit." Steve says then he takes off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> http://picture-cdn.wheretoget.it/kctqna-l-610x610-blouse-jeans-sandals-rosie+huntington+whiteley-shirt--white-casual+friday.jpg
> 
> As always let me know what you think and what you'd like to see in the future. Leave me a review too, I'll be answering/responding to the ones can. So feel free to say or ask me anything.


	40. Chapter 40

Aphrodite followed behind the ambulance that took Fury to the hospital on Steve’s motorcycle meeting Maria Hill there who had pulled up at the same time. If the brunette woman was shocked to see the princess she gave no indication of it and quickly ushered her into the hospital and to the theatre where Fury was being operated on.

Steve was unfortunately unable to apprehend the assassin that shot Fury and arrived at the hospital in a fit of rage but calmed quickly once he saw the critical state that Nick was in. He quickly found Aphrodite and they stood just outside where Nick was being operated on in when Natasha rushed in.

"Is he gonna make it?" She asked almost inaudibly.

"We don't know," Aphrodite mumbled.

"Tell me about the shooter," Natasha whispers.

"He's fast and strong. He had a metal arm," Steve says as Maria Hill joins them. Aphrodite caught the look of recognition and slight fear on Natasha's face that was reflected in the glass.

"Ballistics?" Natasha asks swallowing heavily.

"Three slugs. No rifling and completely untraceable," Maria answers softly.

"Soviet made?"

"Yeah," Maria answers looking at her in shock.

In the operation room Nick's state starts to deteriorate. "He's dropping," A doctor says.

"Crash cart coming in," a nurse informs.

"Nurse, help me with the gauzes, please. BP is dropping. Defibrillator!" Another doctor orders as the machines start to flat-line.

"Charge to one hundred," the other doctor orders.

"Don't do this to me, Nick," Natasha whispers.

"Stand back! Three, two, one. Clear!" The doctor pauses as Fury is given the shock, "Pulse?"

"No pulse," the other Doctor reports.

"Okay. Charge to two hundred, please. Stand back! Three, two, one. Clear!" The doctor pauses again as Fury is given the shock, "Give me epinephrine! Pulse?"

"Negative," the other doctor answers.

"Don't do this to me, Nick. Don't do this to me," Natasha mumbles again pleading.

"What time is it?" One doctor asks.

"1:03, Doctor," the other answers. "Time of death, 1:03 A.M.," the first doctor reports. The room when completely silent and the doctor looked up in dismay before they closed the curtain and began cleaning Nick up. Beside her Steve took from his pocket the flash drive that Nick had given him and he and Aphrodite shared a look.

* * *

 Steve, Aphrodite and Natasha stand together in the room where Fury's dead body has been laid out. Natasha is staring down at his body with tears running down her face when Maria Hill joins them. She leans against the wall on Steve's other side.

"We need to take him." Steve nods before looking at Natasha and going over to her.

"Natasha," Steve whispers to get her attention. She doesn't respond though. Instead she tenderly touches Fury's head before turning and walking out of the room.

"Natasha!" Steve calls after her as he and Aphrodite follow her out the room.

"Why was Fury in your apartment?" Natasha spins around to ask the two. She stares at them with eyes filled with sadness, but suspicion.

"I don't know," Steve sighs shrugging his shoulders. Before the conversation can go on further their interrupted by Rumlow.

"Cap, they want you back at Shield," He informs. “Her too.” He adds nodding to Aphrodite.

“What? Why, I’m not a part of shield?” Aphrodite asked sharing a glance with Steve, even Natasha through her suspicions with them both was confused at the news.

“But you were there when Fury was killed, princess.” He sneers, and Aphrodite supposes that make sense enough and nods to Steve wordlessly telling him that it was okay.

"Alright, give us a second," Steve says dismissing Rumlow and going to turn back to Natasha but Rumlow was insistent, and quite rude.

"They want you now,"

"Okay," Steve bites out and nods once then Rumlow finally move back down the hallway.

"You're a terrible liar." Natasha with her trademark smirk that didn’t reach her eyes before she turned and left.

“We should go,” Aphrodite said to Steve after a moment of silence, when she glimpsed over at him she found him staring very focused into the open vending machine to his right, his other hand fiddling with his pocket, where the flash drive was.

She figured out what his plan was right away and caught his eye before glancing around the hallway that was mostly full of shield agents, luckily they were all congregated on the other end. Wordlessly she began striding forwards, halfway down Steve easily met and matched her stride.

“Let’s go.” Steve said as they passed Rumlow.

“Yeah,” Rumlow said falling in step and fixing his earpiece. “Strike! Move it out.”

* * *

 Steve was in full Captain America mode not speaking to any of the agents at Shield unless he absolutely had to, Fury’s words of not to trust anyone still ringing in his head. He also wondered why in the world the Secretary of the World Security Council wanted to see the woman at his side as well. No one was supposed to know she was even her to begin with. He trusted that Natasha wasn’t the one. His answer became loud and clear when they rounded the corner and standing at the door to the office along with Secretary Pierce was their former neighbour.

“Captain Rogers, Aphrodite,” Kate said nodding politely as she passed. Aphrodite gave her a tight smile but Steve didn’t even spare her a glance.

“Neighbour.” He said bitterly.

Pierce met them at the door a kind smile plastered on his face. “Captain, I’m Alexander Pierce.”

“Sir,” Steve said shaking the man’s hand firmly, “It’s an honour.”

“The honour is mine Captain, my father served the in the 101st,” Pierce said before ushering Steve inside and turning his attention to Aphrodite. “Aphrodite isn’t it,” he said offering his hand to her as well, “Thank you for coming in.”

“Your welcome.” She said releasing his hand.

“Please come in,” he said quickly extending his arm to the door and then entering behind her closing the door behind himself. “Take a seat both of you, I’m sorry we all had to meet under these circumstances.”

Once inside Pierce walked over to the glass desk and picked up one of the many photos sitting there before holding it out for the Captain to take a look at.

"That photo was taken five years after Nick and I met," Pierce explained gesturing to the photo of him and a young Nick Fury shaking hands. "When I was at State Department in Bogota. E.L.N. Rebels took the embassy, security got me out, but the rebels took hostages." Pierce went on. "Nick was deputy chief of the S.H.I.E.L.D. station there, and he comes to me with a plan. He wants to storm the building through the sewers. I said, "No, we'll negotiate." Turns out the E.L.N didn't negotiate, so they put out a kill order." Secretary Pierce picked up a file he'd set aside and walked over to join them. "They stormed the basement, and what do they find? They find it empty. Nick had ignored my direct orders and carried out an unauthorized military operation on foreign soil, saved the lives of a dozen political officers, including my daughter."

"So you promoted him?" Aphrodite summarised curious as to what all this had to do with Fury’s death.

"I've never had any cause to regret it." Pierce said confidently before turning serious. "Captain, why was Nick in your apartment last night?"

"I don't know." He answered in a soft voice.

"Did you know it was bugged?" Pierce pressed on.

"I did." Steve said meeting the secretary’s eye. "Because Nick told us."

"Did he tell you he was the one who bugged it?" that one got Steve to raise an eyebrow. “Did he also tell you he knew about your latest guest? I’ll bet he also didn’t tell you that he keep tabs on her because he thinks of her as a threat.” Steve took a deep breath but gave no other response. “I want you to see something.”

They turned to a monitor just behind the couches they were sitting on. On the screen was a man tied down to a chair, he looked to be currently being interrogated. From the look on Steve’s face he knew exactly who the man was.

“Is that live?” He asked the secretary.

"Yeah, they picked him up last night in a not so safe house in Algiers."

"Are you saying he's a suspect?" Steve said not taking his eyes off the screen until Pierce spoke again. "Assassination isn't Batroc's line.”

"It's more complicated than that. Batroc was hired anonymously to hijack the Lemurian Star. He contacted by email and paid by wire transfer, and then the money was run through 17 fictitious accounts. The last going to a holding company that was registered to a Jacob Veech.” Pierce said handing Steve a folder.

"Am I supposed to know who that is?" Steve asked, skimming through the file offered to him in curiosity and confusion.

"Not likely. Veech died six years ago. His last address was 1435 Elmhurst Drive. When I first met Nick, his mother lived at 1437."

"Wait," Aphrodite said gathering up what the secretary was suggesting. "Are you saying Fury hired the pirates? Why?"

"The prevailing theory?" Pierce shrugged. "Was that the hijacking was a cover for the acquisition and sale of classified intelligence. The sale went sour and that led to Nick's death.”

"If you really knew Nick Fury you'd know that's not true." Steve said strongly.

Pierce nodded in agreement. "Why do you think we’re here talking?" He then got to his feet and began to walk towards the window. "See, I took a seat on the council not because I wanted to, but because Nick asked me to because we were both realists. We knew that despite all the diplomacy, and the hand shaking and the rhetoric, to build a really better world sometimes means having to tear the old one down. And that makes enemies."

Both Aphrodite and Steve stood as Pierce turned back around.

"Those people that call you dirty because you've got the guts to stick your hands in the mud and try to build something better. And the idea that those people could be happy today,” Pierce shoved his hands in his pockets. "Makes me really, really angry. Captain, you and your alien houseguest were the last ones to see Nick Fury alive. I don't think that's an accident." Pierce said matter-of-factly. "And I don't think you do, either. So, I'm going to ask again was he there?"

"He told us not to trust anyone." Steve said honestly.

Pierce made a humming sound. "I wonder, if that included him."

There was a tense moment of silence before Steve spoke again. "I'm sorry. Those were his last words. Excuse us," He turned to leave, picking up his shield that he sent down upon their arrival and attaching it to the harness on his back, and ushering Aphrodite out along with him.

"Captain," Pierce's voice halted him mid step. "Someone murdered my friend. I'm going to find out why. Anyone who gets in my way is going to regret it." Pierce's voice rang out again, a pointed look in the Captain's direction then to his companion. "Human or not.”

Steve bristled at the threat and felt a protective urge come over him but did nothing else to react. "Understood." He finally responded holding the door open for Aphrodite to step through keeping himself and his broad back between her and Pierce as he followed anchoring his hand on her back to keep her moving.

As they approached the elevator Steve gently pulled her to a stop. “Listen, I need you to go back to the hospital.” He said quickly.

“What? You want me to you leave after that?” Aphrodite questioned, clearly he was joking.

“That is the last thing I want,” he said glancing back down the hallway to the closed office door. “You have to get the flash drive and keep it safe.”

“Then come with me, I can get us both there.” She said taking his hand in hers.

“I can’t not yet, there’s one more thing I need to do here. Something else is going on.”

“Then we stay together.” Aphrodite pressed.

“I’ll meet you there,” Steve said voice going softer. “You’re the only person I can trust right now.”

“Alright,” Aphrodite finally said. “An hour, and if you’re not there I’m coming back for you.”

“Okay,” Steve said nodding in agreement. “Now go.” He added squeezing her hand once just before she disappeared with a sharp crack.

Steve sighed and ran his hand down his face then pressed then button to call the elevator, stepping on once it arrived.

* * *

 Aphrodite appeared just outside the hospital and pulled the hood of the jacket over her head, before quickly making her way inside and up to the level where the vending machine was. When she approached it however she found the row where Steve would have hidden the drive empty. Turning around she made her way back down the hospital fully ready to turn the place upside down to find the flash drive when she was suddenly seized by the arm and pulled into a room.

Immediately on the defensive she twisted around and pulled herself out of her attacker’s grasp pushing them back and pining them to the wall with a hand on their shoulder. The light was flipped on to reveal none other than Natasha smirking and blowing a bubble with the gum in her mouth.

“Of course.” Aphrodite scoffed.

“What you’re not happy to see me?” Natasha teased and Aphrodite gave her a dry smile in return.

“Why’d you take?” Aphrodite said instead of offering a response to the redhead’s teasing.

“Safety.” She answered easily. “Where’d you get it?”

“From Steve, and now I need to get it back to him.”

“What you don’t trust me?” Natasha questioned softly, almost anxiously.

There was that word again, ‘trust’. A simple word that carried so much more meaning right now. Aphrodite thought that maybe the redhead could be useful to whatever may happen next.

“I’d trust you a lot more, if you told me who the man with the metal arm was.” Aphrodite said releasing her. That man played a large roll in all this, and if Natasha’s expressions from earlier in the day was any indication she knew him well.

“They call him the Winter Soldier.”

* * *

 Dressed in civilian attire with his hood drawn up, Steve stalked through the hospital on his way to meet up with Aphrodite. However just to double check, when reached the vending machine and peered inside, he saw that the whole entire selection of bubble gum and the thumb drive were all gone. Good, she’d done her part, now he just had to find her and get them out of there.

Before he even had time to turn and leave, Natasha appeared in the reflection of the vending machine window behind him. She made eye contact with him before purposefully smacking on the gum she was chewing and then blowing a bubble. It was then he knew she had the thumb drive.

Steve could feel himself losing his patience. He didn't have time for this. There was also the fact that he didn't know if he could trust her with the thumb drive and Aphrodite was now nowhere to be found. He forcefully pushed Natasha into the room right across the hall and out of sight.

"Where is it?" He demanded as he threw down his hood.

"Safe."

"Do better."

"Where did you get it?" Natasha asked.

"Why would I tell you?" Steve countered.

"Fury gave it to you," she narrowed her eyes at him. "Why?"

"What's on it?" Steve ask.

"I don't know," Natasha answered truthfully.

Steve lightly slammed her against the wall his patience thinning quickly. "Stop lying," he said through gritted teeth.

"I only act like I know everything, Rogers."

"I bet you knew Fury hired the pirates, didn't you?"

"Well, it makes sense. The ship was dirty, Fury needed a way in, so did you."

"I'm not gonna ask you again," Steve threatened.

"She knows who killed Fury." A voice came from behind and Steve turned slightly to see Aphrodite in the room as well.

"Most of the intelligence community doesn't believe he exists. The ones who do call him the Winter Soldier. He's credited with over two dozen assassinations in the last fifty years." Natasha confessed and he turned his attention back to her.

"So he's a ghost story." He concluded releasing her and taking a step back

"Five years ago, I was escorting a nuclear engineer out of Iran and somebody shot out my tires near Odessa. We lost control, went straight over a cliff. I pulled us out, but the Winter Soldier was there. I was covering my engineer, so he shot him, straight through me."

Natasha pulled up her shirt, revealing a scar on her lower left abdomen.

"Soviet slug, no rifling. Bye bye, bikinis."

"Yeah, I bet you look terrible in them now," Steve half joked.

"Going after him is a dead end. I know, I've tried."

Natasha pulled out the thumb drive and held it out for all of them to see. Steve eyed her before taking it and putting it in his pocket.

"Let's find out what the ghost wants."

* * *

 "First rule of going on the run is, don't run, walk," Natasha explained quietly.

"If I run in these shoes, they're gonna fall off," Steve told her just a quiet.

Aphrodite giggled on the other side of Steve as they walk through the mall in Washington. The three walked into the Mac store and walked up to one of their computers.

Steve pulled out the thumb drive and gave it to Natasha.

"This drive has a level six homing program so as soon as we boot up, SHIELD will know exactly where we are," she warned.

"How much time do we have?" Steve asked.

"About nine minutes starting," Natasha quickly popped in the thumb drive into the MacBook Pro. "Now," Natasha confirmed. "Fury was right about that ship, somebody's trying to hide something. This drive is protected by some sort of AI, it keeps rewriting itself to counter my commands."

"Can you override it?" Steve hurriedly asked.

"The person who developed this is slightly smarter than me. Slightly." Natasha lamented. "I'm going to try and run a tracer. This is a program that SHIELD developed to track hostile malware so if we can't read the file, then maybe we can try and see where it came from,"

"Can I help you guys with anything?" An Apple employee asked as he walked up to them.

"Oh, no. Our wedding planner was just helping my fiancée and I look for some honeymoon destinations." Aphrodite cheerfully explained to the man smiling brightly as she wrapped her arms around Steve’s waist in order to block the man’s view of the computer.

"Right! We're getting married." Steve added on, easily securing his arm around Aphrodite’s shoulders.

"Congratulations. Where you guys thinking of going?" The employee asked.

Steve looks at the monitor over his shoulder. "New Jersey," Steve quickly muttered.

"Oh."

Then, the employee looks at Steve for a moment, eyeing him suspiciously. For a moment, Steve thought the man may have figured out who he was.

"I have the same exact glasses," the man finally pointed out.

"Wow, you two are practically twins," Natasha smirked at the two.

"Yeah, I wish...specimen," the employee takes a step back and motions at Steve. "Uhh, if you guys need anything, I've been Aaron," the man said before awkwardly stepping away.

"You said nine minutes, come on."

"No worries, okay, got it." Natasha said then both Steve and Aphrodite peered down at the computer

"You know it?" Aphrodite questioned seeing the look on Steve's face.

"I used to. Let's go."

Natasha quickly pulled out the thumb drive and they made their way out of the store. As soon as they left the Mac Store, they saw several SHIELD agents, all dressed in black attire. Members of the STRIKE team.

"Standard tac team. Two behind, two across, two coming straight at us. If they see us, I'll engage, you two hit the south escalator to the metro," Steve explained, getting ready to engage.

"Shut up, put your arm around us and laugh at something I said," Natasha commanded quickly in hushed tones.

"What?"

"Do it."

Steve was quick to follow her orders and did just as she said the same time the agents passes by them When Steve turned his head, he saw that they had successfully evaded the two agents in front of them.

Steve, Aphrodite and Natasha started to head down on the escalator. Natasha was in front with Aphrodite behind her, and Steve behind her. She was the first to notice Rumlow on the escalators next to them going up and quickly turned around to face them.

"Kiss him." She demanded of Aphrodite.

"What?" Steve and Aphrodite questioned at the same time.

"Rumlow is on the other side. Public displays of affection make people very uncomfortable." Natasha explained quickly.

"Yes, they do," Steve told the red head.

Aphrodite then spotted Rumlow coming up the other side of the escalader and not wanting them to be caught quickly placed her hands on either side of Steve's neck gently pulling his lips down to hers.

Steve settled his hands on her waist and hoped that they didn't look as awkward as he felt, he liked kissing Aphrodite but right in that moment it felt too rushed and forced, at least until he settled into the kiss and realized how soft Aphrodite's lips were against his own. Caught in the moment her pressed against her just a bit more before a throat clear caused them to break away.

"Still uncomfortable?" Natasha sarcastically asked the duo.

"It's not exactly the word I would use," Steve told her as he tried to fight the blush crawling up his neck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always let me know what you think and what you'd like to see in the future. Leave me a review too, I'll be answering/responding to the ones can. So feel free to say or ask me anything.
> 
> https://katewaterhouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/rosie-huntington-whiteley-street-style-shopping-in-los-angeles-1-14-2016-1_thumbnail.jpg


	41. Chapter 41

"So where did Captain America learn how to steal a car?" Natasha asked as she lounged in the backseat of the truck that was stolen from the mall earlier, the three of them now on their way to New Jersey.

"Nazi Germany," Steve dryly from the driver's seat, comfortably driving with one hand on the wheel the other on the gearshift. "And we're borrowing, take your feet off the seat." He added glancing in the rear view mirror.

"Alright," Natasha leaning forward between the two front seats. "I have a question for both of you actually, which you do not have to answer. But I feel if you don't answer it though, you're kind of answering it, you know?"

"What?" Steve and Aphrodite said at the same time.

"Was that you guy's first kiss since you've been here?" she questioned a hint of a smirk on her face.

"Why would you ask that?" Steve questioned the agent.

"Well, you kind of blushed like a little boy after she kissed you."

"Can we not talk about this now?" Aphrodite whined.

"That bad, huh?" Steve asked stealing a glance over at her.

"I didn't say that." She pointed out.

"It kind of sounds like that's what you're saying."

"Take it easy," Natasha cut it. "I was just wondering how much practice you guys had."

"You don't need practice." Aphrodite informed.

"Everybody needs practice."

"No, it was not our first kiss." Steve said finally even smiling at little proud that he could say that. "I'm 95 not dead."

Natasha sat shocked for a beat. "How long has this been going on?" She asked.

"It hasn't," Aphrodite told her. "Nothing has been going on." She add with a small smirk reminiscent of the redhead's.

"It's just been hard to talk about these kinds of thing." Steve admitted with a sigh.

"That's alright, you just make some stuff up," Natasha suggested.

"What, like you?" Aphrodite questioned.

"I don't know. The truth is a matter of circumstances, it's not all things to all people all the time. And neither am I."

Aphrodite knew Natasha's life was a complicated one. Her past before she had joined SHIELD had been one that only few people knew about. But still despite the life she had once lived, she felt as if the other woman was still searching for a reason somewhere that she was anything less than the woman she'd become.

"That's a hard way to live," Aphrodite commented.

"It's a good way not to die, though," Natasha mused unconcerned.

"You know, it's kind of hard to trust someone when you don't know who that someone really is." Steve joined in with a pointed look through the mirror.

"Yeah." Natasha said softly looking through the window. "Who do you want me to be?"

"How about a friend?"

"Well, there's a chance you might be in the wrong business, Rogers." Natasha smirked returning to her comfortable position in the backseat. Steve looked over at the woman in the passenger's seat again and caught her staring at him smiling, not at all bothered by the fact that she'd been caught, he smiled too and winked at her and they continued the rest of the drive in comfortable silence.

* * *

"The file came from these coordinates," Natasha informed as they got out of the truck in New Jersey and she looked at her phone.

"So did I," answered Steve. "This camp is where I was trained."

"Changed much?"

"A little."

Steve momentarily paused as they entered the gates, his eyes fixated on nothing in particular.

"Hey," Aphrodite gently put a hand on his shoulder. "You alright." He nodded but she wasn't convinced.

"This is a dead end." Natasha announced from her spot near the doors. "Zero heat signature, zero waves, not even radio. Whoever wrote the file must have used a router to throw people off," she said putter the phone back into her jacket pocket.

"What are you looking at?" Aphrodite asked Steve seeing as he was staring at the building they were standing just in front of.

"This building is in the wrong place," Steve informed them as he walked over to what looked like an ammunition supply point. "Army regulations forbid storing ammunition within five hundred yards from the barracks."

Steve used his shield to break the door lock and entered, followed by Aphrodite and Natasha.

"Still no heat signatures. We should be good," Natasha assured as she flipped a nearly light switch. "This is shield," she pointed out.

"Maybe where it started," Steve said looking around the room suspiciously.

They went into a room that held old framed photos of many faces.

"There's Stark's father," Natasha gestured over to the man, who did bare quite a striking resemblance to Tony. "Who's the girl?"

If Aphrodite, wasn't apart of shield to begin with knew who Peggy Carter was, shouldn't Natasha as well? Judging by the way she looked at Steve after she said that she was just trying to get a reaction out of him.

Steve didn't give one and instead walks off further down the room. He stopped in front of a large book shelf staring at it hard. "If you're already working in a secret office," he trailed off grabbing one end of the shelf and pulling it open to reveal an elevator behind it. "Why do you need to hide the elevator?"

Natasha pulls out her phone again to use the scanner to hack the security pad outside the doors. When the elevator doors glide open the three of them enter and it descends taking them into a large room with old looking computers scattered around.

"This can't be the data point," Natasha pointed out when they all stepped off the elevator. "This technology is ancient." Then she noticed the rather modern looking USB drive port and places their drive into it.

"Initiate system?" The computer asks in a dull, robotic voice.

"Y E S, spells yes," Natasha says while typing. She smiles as the old computer starts to whir to life. "Shall we play a game?" She looks at Steve hoping to gain a reaction but doesn't. "It's from a movie that was really-"

"Yeah I know, we saw it," Steve said as he cut her off, God how he hated those movies.

The computer turns on and a photo of Steve's shield ID pops on the screen.

"Rogers, Steven Grant. Born, 1918," an accented voice spoke. A camera pointed in Steve's direction as if it were studying him, Steve's shoulders tensed as he seemed to recognize the voice.

Then, the camera pointed to Natasha and her shield ID too, appeared on the screen.

"Romanov, Natalia Alianova. Born, 1984." Even Natasha seemed shocked that the computer could identify her.

"The Asgardian, they've told me about you," the computer almost seemed happy? Was that possible? "Aphrodite, birth date unknown." The camera said as it pointed to Aphrodite.

"It's some kind of recording," Natasha said frowning as she tried to make sense of what was happening.

"I am not a recording, Fraulein. I may not be the man I was when the Captain took me prisoner in 1945..."

The computer screen showed a black and white photo of an odd looking man with round glasses.

"Who is that?" Aphrodite asked.

Steve was glaring at the photo on the computer screen. It seemed like Steve knew exactly who he was.

"Do you know this thing?" Natasha questioned sceptically.

"Arnim Zola was a German scientist who worked for the Red Skull. He's been dead for years," Steve explained shortly.

"First correction, I am Swiss. Second, look around you. I have never been more alive. In 1972, I received a terminal diagnosis. Science could not save my body. My mind, however, that was worth saving. Two hundred thousand feet of data banks. You are standing on my brain," Zola explained.

"How did you get here?" Steve questioned.

"Invited."

"Operation Paperclip after World War II," Natasha supplied. After Steve shot her a look that said explain. "Shield recruited German scientists with strategic values."

"They thought I could help their cause. I also helped my own."

"Hydra died with the Red Skull," Steve snapped.

"Cut off one head, two more shall take its place." Zola said confidently

"Prove it," Steve challenged.

"Accessing archive."

The computer screen shows them old footage of the Red Skull and of the original shield founders.

"Hydra was founded on the belief that humanity could not be trusted with its own freedom. What we did not realize, was that if you try to take that freedom, they resist. The war taught us much. Humanity needed to surrender its freedom willingly. After the war, shield was founded and I was recruited. The new HYDRA grew. A beautiful parasite inside shield. For seventy years, hydra has been secretly feeding crisis, reaping war. And when history did not cooperate, history was changed." A grainy photo of the man with the metal arm was showed, The Winter Soldier.

"That's impossible, shield would have stopped you," Natasha said quickly countering the computer.

"Accidents will happen." The computer screen revealed Howard and Maria Stark. Their deaths were staged as a car accident. Next was a photo of Director Fury.

"Hydra created a world so chaotic that humanity is finally ready to sacrifice its freedom to gain its security." Pictures of three helicarriers were shown next, "Once the purification process is complete, Hydra's new world order will arise. We won, Captain. Your death amounts to the same as your Life; a zero sum."

Steve had, had enough of the scientist and punched through the computer, smashing the screen and effectively silencing the Swiss man. Momentarily.

"As I was saying," Zola spoke cockily once again from a different monitor.

"What's on this drive?" Aphrodite asked quickly stepping in front of Steve so he wouldn't lash out at the computer.

"Project Insight requires, insight. So I wrote an algorithm."

"What kind of algorithm? What does it do?" Natasha questioned desperately.

"The answer to your question is fascinating. Unfortunately, you shall be too dead to hear it."

Suddenly, the doors they came through started to close. Steve threw his shield to the doors hoping to catch them before it closes completely but it misses.

"Guys, we got a bogey, short-range ballistics. Thirty seconds tops." Natasha announced looking at her phone.

"Who fired it?" asked Steve, who was already starting to look for an escape route.

"SHIELD."

"Admit it, it's better this way. We're both of us, out of time," warned Zola.

Aphrodite spotted a grate in the floor not too far from where they were and thrust out her hand throwing the top off, pushing Natasha down inside after she snatched the drive out of the port.

"Get in!" Steve yelled then Aphrodite jumped down as well and she and Natasha held each other close, hands fisted in the others jacket to make room for Steve in the small space. He jumped down and pulled them both in close before holding his shield over their heads.

The missile hit. Instantly heat, smoke and pressure surrounded the three.

The building above and around them started to collapse. Steve groaning as he fought to hold his shield above them as debris rained down. Despite the fear she felt after Natasha had passed out, Aphrodite forced herself to concentrate and created a force field that enveloped the three of them and kept Steve from exerting too much more energy until finally things began to calm.

* * *

Steve grunted as he pushed against his shield trying to clear away the debris on top of it just enough to get them out. Desperate to get them out, and get Natasha some fresh air after she slumped down to the ground. Aphrodite pushed out the force field encompassing them and the debris flew along with it.

Steve climbed out of the hole first to make sure it was safe and things were settled enough for them to move on.

"Hey," he called getting the attention of Aphrodite who was shifted Natasha around carefully in order to lift her up to him. "C'mon," he said reaching down into the hole, pulling Natasha out and up into his arms. Aphrodite pulled herself up and out of the hole.

Then they both paused at the sound of a familiar him growing steadily closer. Quinjets, en route.

"Let's go." Steve ordered quietly as they quickly began navigating their way out of the rubble. "Get back to the truck."

Luckily no shield agents on the ground had arrived at the scene yet, but that didn't mean they weren't coming. Steve thought as they got to the truck.

Aphrodite climbed into the backseat and he laid Natasha down along the seat so that her head rested in Aphrodite's lap and he jumped into the driver's seat, starting the car and taking off down the dirt road.

* * *

"Hey, man," Sam Wilson greeted, unsure of what to say. Suffice to say that when he heard a knock at his door this morning, he wasn't expecting to open it up and see Captain America along with his pretty running friend Aphrodite and the redhead that had picked him up afterwards.

"I'm sorry about this," Steve apologized immediately, truly sorry to be invading the man's privacy. "We need a place to lay low."

"Everyone we know is trying to kill us," Natasha added shortly.

Sam pauses for a moment, taking a brief moment to glance at the three.

"Not everyone," Sam answers and holds the door open for them, glancing around as they entered.

* * *

Sam let them use his guestroom to clean up a bit, Steve being the gentleman that he was let both women use the bathroom before him and now Aphrodite and Natasha were currently sat quiet in the room while Steve used the bathroom.

"Hey," Aphrodite said softly snapping Natasha from the slight daze she had fallen into while drying her hair. "Are you alright?"

"Can't reach the back." Natasha said with a shrug in lieu of a real response. Aphrodite gave a half smile and moved to sit behind her on the bed and took the towel, then began drying the back of her red hair.

Steve stood in the bathroom for a moment watching the two through the mirror before he spoke. "You okay?" he asked Natasha.

"Yeah," Natasha replied quickly, too quickly.

Steve set down the towel he was drying his hands with and entered the room then sat on the chair across from them. He leaned his elbows on his knees and looked at Natasha carefully. "What's going on?"

"When I first joined SHIELD, I thought I was going straight. But I guess I just traded in the KGB for Hydra," Natasha confessed, looking down at her hands. "I thought I knew whose lies I was telling, but I guess I can't tell the difference anymore."

"There's a chance you might be in the wrong business." Steve teased earning a small smile from the redhead.

"I owe you." Natasha said quietly, "Both of you." She added looking at Aphrodite.

"It's okay," She said.

"If it was the other way around, and it was down to me to save your lives – and be honest with me – would you trust me to do it?" asked Natasha quietly, her green eyes shifting between the two blue ones.

"I would now," said Steve. "And I'm always honest."

"Without question." Aphrodite said as well.

"Well," said Natasha, a smile growing on her lips. "You seem pretty chipper for someone who just found out they died for nothing." She teased Steve.

"Well, guess I just like to know who I'm fighting," Steve said in response.

"I made breakfast," Sam's voice came and they looked to see him leaning up against the doorframe. "If you guys, eat that sort of thing." He added as he left.

* * *

"So, the question is, who in SHIELD could launch a domestic missile strike?" Natasha asked as she made herself comfortable leaning back against Sam's countertops. They'd just finished explaining the last 48 hours to Sam.

"Alexander Pierce," Aphrodite confidently answered from her place at the table next to Steve, finishing up her cup of coffee. Turns out she shared her brother's sentiments for the drink, especially with the way Sam made it.

"Who happens to be sitting on top of the most secure building in the world," Natasha nearly snorting at the irony of the situation.

"But he's not working alone, Zola's algorithm was on the Lemurian Star." Steve continued.

"So was Jasper Sitwell." Natasha added.

Steve nodding, now things were starting to make sense. "So, the real question is, how do the three most wanted people in Washington kidnap a SHIELD officer in broad daylight?" He posed the question to everyone.

"The answer is, you don't," Sam answered exiting the kitchen and grabbing something from the counter along the way and dropped a file in front of Steve.

"What's this?"

"Call it a resume."

Natasha picks up a photo of Sam with his para rescue team.

"Is this Bakhmala? The Khalid Khandil mission, that was you," Natasha then turned to Steve. "You didn't say he was a para rescue."

"Riley?" Aphrodite asked nodding to the photo of Sam and another man.

"Yeah," Sam answered.

"I heard they couldn't bring in the choppers because of the RPGs," Natasha recalled. "What did you use, a stealth chute?"

"No. These."

Sam handed Steve another file and Aphrodite looked at it over his shoulder and saw what she could only describe as a pair of mechanical wings. They shared an impressed look.

"I thought you said you're a pilot?" Steve asked Sam.

"I never said a pilot," Sam countered with a smirk.

"I can't ask you to do this, Sam. You got out for a good reason." Steve said reasonably.

"Dude, Captain America needs my help. There's no better reason to get back in." Sam almost scoffed.

"Where can we get our hands on one of these things?"

"The last one is at Fort Meade, behind three guarded gates and a twelve inch steel wall," Sam supplied.

Steve looked to Natasha who nodded with a shrug. "Shouldn't be a problem." Then to Aphrodite and grinned. "I know someone that can walk through walls." He added confidently.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The much anticipate highway fight is up next, very excited to write that. I've gotten some suggestions from over on FF.net but is there anything else you guys would like to see?
> 
> As always let me know what you think and what you'd like to see in the future. Leave me a review too, I'll be answering/responding to the ones can. So feel free to say or ask me anything.


	42. Chapter 42

"Listen, I gotta' fly home tonight, cause' uh, I got some constituency problem, and I gotta' press the flesh," Senator Stern informs Jasper Sitwell as they walk down the stairs after finishing a meeting together.

"Any constituent in particular, Mr. Senator?" Agent Jasper Sitwell questions amused.

"Uh no, not really. Twenty‐three, kinda hot. Real hot. You know, wants to be a reporter, I think. I don't know, who listens at that point?" Stern answers almost scoffing at the end.

"Doesn't sound much of a problem to me," says Sitwell holding back laughter.

"Really? Cause she's killing my back. Look, this isn't the place to talk about it," The corrupt senator says when they come to a stop near the bottom of the steps and he reaches out to touch the pin on Sitwell's jacket, "That's a nice pin."

"Thank you," says the double agent smiling a bit more.

"Come here," Stern opens his arms and as they embrace he whispers, "Hail, HYDRA." Stern walks away complaining about a pain in his knee and Sitwell is distracted when he gets a call from Pierce.

"I need a minute. Bring the car around," he told the agents that were with him who leave as he answers the phone, "Yes, sir."

"Agent Sitwell, how was lunch? I hear the crab cakes here are delicious," Someone who is definitely not Secretary Pierce greets.

"Who is this?" Sitwell questions immediately looking around suspiciously.

"The good looking guy in the sunglasses, your ten o'clock," the man describes as Sitwell looks around but doesn't see him anyone matching the description, "Your other ten o'clock," Sitwell turns the other way and sees the dark skinned Sam Wilson sitting in a café across the street raising the cup in his hand in a mocking toast, "There you go."

"What do you want?" he demands.

"You're gonna go around the corner, to your right. There's a grey car, two spaces down. You and I are gonna take a ride," Sam answers easily not at all bothered by the agents tone.

"And why would I do that?" Sitwell shoots back.

"Because that tie looks really expensive, and I'd hate to mess it up," Sam threatens as soon as he said that Sitwell looks down at his tie and sees a small red light that could only come from a snipers gun and casts another fruitless glance around before agreeing to Sam's terms.

* * *

Steve throws Sitwell through a door and across the roof while Aphrodite and Natasha follow behind.

"Tell me about Zola's algorithm," Steve demands.

"Never heard of it," Sitwell lies stumbling away and rearranging his glasses.

"What were you doing on the Lemurian Star?" Steve questions.

"I was throwing up, I get seasick," Sitwell continues to lie and doesn't notice that Steve is leading him to the edge of the rooftop until he almost falls over but Steve grabs him by the lapels of his suit and straightens him up. Sitwell just smiles though knowing Steve wouldn't push him over. "Is this little display meant to insinuate that you're gonna' throw me off the roof? Cause' it's really not your style Rogers," Sitwell spoke with a smirk.

"You're right. It's not." Steve said releasing Sitwell and smoothing out his suit letting the man nearly sigh in relief before speaking again. "It's theirs," he says with a smirk before standing aside and letting Aphrodite and Natasha kick him off the edge of the roof.

"So you mean to tell me, all this time I've been trying to set you up with her, you've been doing fine without me?" Natasha asks Steve in the silence that follows Sitwell screaming.

"Yeah."

"Pretty much." Steve and Aphrodite answer at the same time.

"Huh." Natasha says thoughtfully.

At that Sitwell's screams start up again rising in time as Sam flies over with him in his grasp and dropped him along the roof while he lands a few feet away, as they approach he holds his hands up in surrender.

"Zola's algorithm is a program, for choosing Insight's targets!" Sitwell rushes out.

"What targets?" Steve demands.

"You! A TV anchor in Cairo, the Undersecretary of Defense, a high school valedictorian in Iowa City. Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, anyone who's a threat to HYDRA! Now, or in the future," he continues to rush out failing to catch his breath after the fall, then rescue, then drop.

"The future? How could it know?" Steve asks in confusion. At this Sitwell laughs as he stumbles back to his feet.

"How could it not? The 21st century is a digital book. Zola taught HYDRA how to read it," He says getting confused looks from Steve, Natasha and Aphrodite, "Your bank records, medical histories, voting patterns, e‐mails, phone calls, your damn SAT scores. Zola's algorithm evaluates peoples' past to predict their future."

"And what then?" Steve asks quietly almost as if he didn't want to know the answer.

"Oh, my god. Pierce is gonna kill me," Sitwell mumbles to himself and he tries to back away from the advancing super-solider but Sam holds him in place with a firm hand on his shoulder.

"What then?" Steve demands louder.

"Then the Insight Helicarriers scratch people off the list. A few millions at a time," Sitwell answers hesitantly after a moment.

* * *

"HYDRA doesn't like leaks," Sitwell continues to talk and try to plead his case.

"So why don't you try sticking a cork in it," Sam finally snaps.

"Insight's launching in sixteen hours, we're cutting it a little bit close here," Nat pipes up sticking her head between the two front seats from where she's sat in the middle seat next to Sitwell, Aphrodite on her other side behind Steve's seat.

"I know. We'll use him to bypass the DNA scans and access the Helicarriers directly," Steve responds easily having already thought that through.

"What?! Are you crazy?!" Sitwell snaps. "That is a terrible, terrible idea-" Sitwell begins to protest but is cut off as a metal hand reaches through the window and pulls him out of the car then throws him into oncoming traffic just as a sixteen-wheeler was going past.

Natasha and her quick thinking in situations like this, quickly pulls Aphrodite to the side and away from the bullet that had just been fired into her seat.

"Move!" Natasha yells clambering through the middle of the two seat and onto Steve's lap pulling him down away from the next bullet meant for him and Aphrodite does the same for Sam.

Steve pulls on the break handle and the person on the roof, the Winter Soldier, drops down onto the street and stops his momentum with his metal arm before standing up. As Natasha goes to shoot him another car smashes into theirs and pushes them forward in the process causing Natasha to drop her gun. As they neared The Winter Soldier leaps back onto the roof of the while Sam tries to gain control and Natasha searches for her gun.

Sam slams on the brakes and tries to keep control of the car but before he can Winter Soldier smashes his metal hand through the windshield and pulls out the steering wheel.

"Shit!" Sam says loudly. Natasha, after having found her gun, starts to shoot at him but the Winter Soldier jumps onto the jeep behind their car that has started erratically pushing theirs along the road.

"Hang on!" Steve yells breaking open the door with his shield pushed up against it, holding onto the other three as best as he can as the car begins to flip they drop from the car onto the door as well as the shield and slide roughly along the street. Sam loses his grip and slips from the shield but luckily he only tumbles a few metres away and seems mostly unharmed.

The three that remaining hanging onto the shield quickly stood once they had come to a complete stop, the jeep that had caused the crash stopping as well many men all fully armed climbing out and one of them handing the Winter Soldier a grenade launcher, which he immediately used. Steve pushed Natasha and Aphrodite out of the way and to the full force of the grenade with his shield which sent him flying over the bridge, just as the Winter Soldiers comrades began firing at the remaining three on the bridge.

Sam quickly dove for cover behind a car but Natasha was uncharacteristically not as quick and would have been left vulnerable to a barrage of bullets had Aphrodite not ran over to her and covered them both with a force field. Together they moved along the bridge. Natasha shooting back at the soldiers with her handgun and Aphrodite kept up the force field.

That is until they were forced to the edge of the bridge and the Winter Soldier shot another grenade at them.

"Red!" Aphrodite called in warning before taking her hand and jumping over the edge of the bridge and landing them safely. Natasha stopped them as they got to the other end at the shadow of the Winter Soldier. Natasha took aim from beneath the bridge and fired. Her shots as precise as usual as there was a bit of calm while she ran to take cover behind an overturned truck just as a hail of gunfire was shot where she was once standing.

* * *

"I have her, find the blondes." The Winter Soldier ordered in Russian, with no regard for his body he jumped off the bridge and landed on a car, crushing it immediately, before stomping after the redhead that had gotten the better of him yet again.

* * *

Natasha dropped to her knees putting a hand to the wound on her shoulder where The Winter Soldier had just shot clean through. She backed up against a car a breathed hard looking around for the Soldier when a thump for behind her had her turning to see that he had hopped onto the top of a car and was aiming straight at her again.

Aphrodite is suddenly there hitting him with a blast of magic that knocks him off the car, but with practice ease he lands on his feet and makes to shoot at her but his gun is hued in gold and tugged from his grip. Aphrodite easily tosses the gun aside as the soldier charges towards her.

He swings with his metal hand but she ducks catching his gloved human hand when he swings again, driving her knee into his stomach then kicking him in the face after he was bent over. He slams his metal fist into her back and it jolts her so that she releases him, and instead kicks him in the chest as soon as he straightens up, again he grabs another gun to shoot at her but she kicks it out of his hand, when she makes an attempt at a high kick but the Winter Soldier catches her leg midway and traps it on his shoulder then uses it as leverage to flip her over and toss her back into a nearby car. He stalks towards her and gears up his metal arm, he rears back but before his hit can connect there's the ringing of metal clashing with metal as Steve is there with his shield blocking the hit.

The Winter Soldier, thoroughly annoyed with the pair of blondes that wouldn't stay down, pushes the shield aside and kicks Steve away, but he comes right back.

As the two evenly matched opponents battle, Aphrodite makes her way over to Natasha.

"Red? Natasha?" Aphrodite shakes the dazed redhead. She then takes notice of the blood coming from the wound in her shoulder and ripped off her jacket and covers the wound with it in an attempt to stem the blood flow. "Alright, c'mon." She said wrapping the redheads arm over her shoulder. "Get up."

As Aphrodite begins helping to lead her away Natasha looks back over their shoulders and notices something strange. "Steve?" She breathes softly.

That prompts Aphrodite to turn and she sees Steve staring at the now unmasked Winter Solider, who looks oddly familiar.

"Bucky?" Steve questions.

"Who the hell is Bucky?" The Winter Solider asks bluntly before aiming at Steve with his last remaining gun, but before he can shoot Sam swoops in, with his wings once again attached to his back, and kicks him away. The Winter Solider stands and hesitates for a moment before once again aiming at Steve, who in his shocked state would have probably stood there and let himself be shot, but before that could happen a grenade flew over his head forcing him to cover himself as it exploded right where the Winter Solider had once stood.

Steve turned to see Aphrodite stood there with an RPG aimed a weak looking Natasha leaned on the van next to her.

Aphrodite tossed the weapon away and went back to supporting Natasha just as black vans and jeeps surrounded them and SWAT teams and the former Strike teams piled out.

"Drop the Shield, Captain! Get down on your knees! Get on your knees! Now! Get down! Get down!" Agent Rumlow shouts out the orders. Steve does as he says and places his shield on the ground while holding his hands up defensively. "Get on your knees! Down!" Rumlow yells and kicks Steve's leg to make him kneel.

"Don't move," Rumlow orders as the other three are handcuffed. The SWAT team not caring for the injury that Natasha has suffered and roughly snaps a pair of handcuffs onto her wrists. The same is done for Aphrodite though her handcuffs are significantly larger and thicker, possibly made of the same material that shield had once used to keep Loki restrained.

A helicopter then flies overhead and Rumlow turns to the agent holding Steve at gunpoint. "Put the guns down. Not here. Not here!" Rumlow whispers harshly to his men.

His men lower their guns and start to lead the four in custody to one of the black vans.

"Not her," Rumlow suddenly says approaching the agent leading Aphrodite along by the arm, and stopping him. "You get your own ride princess."

"Don't I feel special?" She sneers mockingly glaring at the commando.

"Keep your eyes on her, she's quick." Rumlow orders returning her glare. "Hey, hey, shut them up," Rumlow suddenly barks at his men when Steve, Sam and Natasha started to protest and fight when they noticed Aphrodite being led to a different van. "Get em' inside, let's go."

While they were all distracted herding the other three into a van and strapping the super-solider down with his restraints, an agent dressed in all black complete with a helmet obscuring their face deftly slid a thin black phone in the space between where Aphrodite's restraints met her hands.

She clutched the phone carefully and stared in confusing but the agent was already making their way into the other van and the doors slammed shut behind them.

Aphrodite is forced into a separate van and down into a seat that was clearly especially built just for her, clamps went around her arms then another set encased her legs effectively keeping her pinned against the seat ensuring that she wasn't moving.

She was jolted in the seat a few seconds later was a sharp zap of electricity zapped her in the back. One of her older brothers was the god of thunder and lightning and the other was the god of mischief, she'd been electrocuted in her life more times than she could count so compared to that it didn't hurt all that much but it did surprise her, and it annoyed her to no end that they seemed to have covered all their bases in keeping her restrained as the zap came every few seconds keeping her distracted. Then she remembered that the apartment she was staying in was bugged and had been for some time and it was highly likely that they had been listening in on more than one of her conversations with Steve about her powers.

A pair of masked agents joined her and the doors swung shut behind them, the van starting and beginning to move only moments later.

But Aphrodite isn't concerned about where there destination with be, she's more concerned about the rapid blood loss that Natasha had to have been currently suffering from and the look of utter disbelief and devastation on Steve's face as the last thing she'd seen before they closed the door separating them.

The phone that was snuck into her hands vibrated bringing her from her thoughts, casting a glance up to ensure that the agents weren't paying her any attention. She slid the phone out enough to read what was on the screen.

_"Get ready."_

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update, had some mental health issues that needed to be sorted out. What would you guys like to see next?
> 
> http://i.perezhilton.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/rosie-huntington-whiteley-shopping-rodeo-drive-los-angeles__oPt.jpg
> 
> As always let me know what you think and what you'd like to see in the future. Leave me a review too, I'll be answering/responding to the ones can. So feel free to say or ask me anything.


	43. Chapter 43

"It was him," Steve said breaking the silence that had settled in the van during the ride. "He looked right at me like he didn't even know me."

"How is that even possible?" Sam asked in disbelief. "That was like, seventy years ago."

"Zola," Steve immediately answered. "Bucky's unit was captured back in 43'. Zola experimented on him. Whatever he did helped Bucky survive the fall. They must have found him and..."

"None of that's your fault, Steve," Natasha assured, her voice straining as she swayed slightly from her blood loss.

"Even when I had nothing, I had Bucky."

"We need a doctor here," Sam voice broke through as he eyed Natasha's shoulder as she rested her head back against the seat. "If we don't put pressure on that wound, she's gonna bleed out here in the truck"

Sam cut himself off when he saw the guard on the left whip out an electric rod pointing it threateningly, the guard then surprises them all by flipping the rod and electrocuting their partner before kicking and knocking them unconscious. While Steve, Sam, and Natasha just stared in surprise as the guard removed their helmet.

"That thing was squeezing my brain," Agent Maria Hill said as she finally pried the helmet off. "Who's this guy?" She asks Natasha nodding to Sam.

"Hill, Sam Wilson. Sam, Maria Hill." Steve quickly introduces happy to see a friendly face. "She's on our side." He adds and Sam nods accepting Steve's word as Hill takes out a set of keys and begins unlocked their handcuffs. "Aphrodite?" he questions as she passes a cloth to Sam to press against Natasha wound to help stem the blood flow.

In response Hill pulls out a cell phone and types something quickly. "She'll meet us outside."

* * *

The phone in her hand vibrates again and she slides it out to read the newest incoming text.

_"Now!"_

Raising her head slightly to peek out at the two guards through her lashes, Aphrodite felt her lips twitch in what could be the beginnings of a smile and turned invisible.

"What the hell?" the first guard yelled standing up with his gun pointed at what used to be the woman they were guarding. "Where'd she go?" he asked his partner as if he knew the answer. He was just as lost as the other man, they had no record of her being able to do that.

"Hell if I know man." The other guard responded honestly standing with his gun raised as well.

Cautiously the first guard approached the seat where the restraints were floating as if they were still wrapped around a person. He suddenly flew back and hit the wall of the van when a force that felt like a kick hit him in the chest.

Aphrodite used her powers to free herself from her restraints and punched the other guard in the throat then tossing him headfirst into the first guard who had starting trying to get up, helmets and heads clashing together painfully. The first guard reached for his taser and shot in her direction but she used her magic to redirect the prongs and they latched onto the second guard who started twitching right away.

She grabbed the first guard by the front of his vest and dropped him into her seat locking him in her restraints, he immediately started spasming when the electricity hit his back which caused his fingers to involuntarily clench around the taser in his hand shocking his partner yet again, and the cycle continued to repeat itself.

Easily phasing through the back of the van she dropped in the middle of the road and looked around then began making her way to the van that was parked off the shoulder.

"Hey," she called to alert the group to her presence, Steve was the first to spin around at the sound of her voice and immediately sighed in relief. "You alright?" she asked him as she approached.

"Yeah." He answered looking her over for injuries.

"How's Natasha?"

"Not doing good. C'mon." he said gesturing for her to go ahead of him in entering the van.

"Hill," she greeted in surprise. "This was you?" she questioned tossing her the phone.

"Yeah." Maria responded catching the phone before opening the door to the front of the van settling herself in the driver's seat.

"Thanks." Aphrodite said as she climbed in the back of the van and took a seat across from Natasha and Sam who was still applying pressure to the wound on her shoulder. They both gave her looks of relief as she took Natasha's other hand and let her squeeze it.

"You're welcome," Maria responded to Aphrodite's thanks, "We gotta' get moving, Cap." She added as Steve climbed into the van and slid the door shut behind him taking his seat next to Aphrodite.

* * *

The fleet of black trucks and vans pulled to a stop at the desired location inside a tunnel. The corrupt Hydra agents led by Rumlow climbed out one by one as he began barking orders to his men.

"Three holes start digging," he ordered pulling out his gun and gesturing for two of his men to do the same. "You two with me, princess first." He said bypassing the van that held the captain and going for the van at the very back of the fleet.

Silently he counted down from three and swung the door open guns raised to fire, but what he saw inside shocked them all. The agents who were supposed to be guarding her were both violently twitching, one from being strapped in the restraints used to hold Aphrodite and subsequently being electrocuted but the volts also placed there, the other's twitching being caused by the taser being unwillingly clenched in the formers hand finger clutching around the trigger, the prongs attached to the latter's neck.

"Shit," Rumlow swore scrambling around the van to get to the other one, opening that door to be met with a similar sight of the van being empty of its cargo. The only thing in this van was one of his agents unconscious on the floor and a hole still smoking around the floor of the vehicle.

* * *

"GSW. She's lost at least a pint!" Maria called to a man that was rushing down the hallway. Hill had taking them to a bunker on the other side of a waterfall and was currently leading them through the underground facility.

"Maybe two," Sam added from the back of the group. Aphrodite and Steve on either side of Natasha helping her walk

"Let me take her," the man who turns out to be a doctor, calls out.

"She'll want to see him first," Maria tells the doctor assuredly and he nods leading them to a room at the back of the facility where Hill pushed aside the plastic divider to the infirmary where a very much alive Nick Fury was sat up in a bed.

"About damn time," Fury remarked from his bed.

The doctor came in behind them and ushered Natasha into a seat so he could start working on her as Fury started to speak, listing all of his injuries.

"Lacerated spinal column, cracked sternum, shattered collarbone, perforated liver, and one hell of a headache."

"Don't forget your collapsed lung," the doctor reminded while putting pressure on Natasha's shoulder.

"Let's not forget that," Fury chuckled. "Otherwise, I'm good."

"They cut you open," Natasha pointed out, her voice not accusing but hurt, "Your heart stopped." He added.

"Tetrodotoxin B. Slows the pulse to one beat a minute. Banner developed it for stress. Didn't work so great for him, but we found a use for it."

"Why all the secrecy?" Aphrodite asks from her spot hovering over Natasha and watching the doctor closely.

"Why not just tell us?" Steve echoed.

"Any attempt on the Director's life had to look successful," Hill informed and Aphrodite looked at her remembering how defeated she had looked at the hospital when they announced Fury's 'death' either she hadn't known at the time, or she was a damn good actor.

"Can't kill you if you're already dead. Besides, I wasn't sure who to trust," the Director admitted.

* * *

"This man declined the Nobel Peace Prize. He said peace wasn't an achievement, it was a responsibility," Fury scoffed while throwing a picture of Alexander Pierce to the middle of the table. "See, its stuff like this that give me trust issues."

"We have to stop the launch," declared the Captain.

"I don't think the Council's accepting my calls anymore."

"Once the helicarriers reach 3,000 feet, they'll triangulate with Insight satellites, becoming fully weaponized," Agent Hill explained and simulated the helicarriers on her computer screen. "We need to breach those carriers and replace their targeting blades with our own. One or two won't cut it. We need to link all three carriers for this to work, because if even one of those ships remains operational, a whole lot of people are gonna die."

"We have to assume everyone aboard those carriers is Hydra. We have to get past them, insert these server blades. And maybe, just maybe we can salvage what's left-"

"We're not salvaging anything." Steve harshly interrupted. "We're not just taking down the carriers, Nick. We're taking down Shield,"

"Shield had nothing to do with this." Fury interrupted this time as he tried to defend his organization but Steve held firm.

"You gave me this mission. This is how it ends."

"Shield's been compromised. You said so yourself," Aphrodite interjected pointed out what the director had told them only days ago.

"Hydra grew right under your nose and nobody noticed." Steve continued.

"Why do you think we're meeting in this cave? I noticed," Fury said waving around him as if it was somehow enough.

"How many paid the price before you did?" Steve snapped voice still hard, and Fury seemed to understand what was happening.

"Look, I didn't know about Barnes." He sighed sitting back in his seat.

"Even if you had, would you have told me? Or would you have compartmentalized that, too? Shield, Hydra, it all goes."

"He's right," Natasha told the man.

Director Fury looked at every single person in the room. Everyone seemed to have sided with Steve. He made specific eye contact with Aphrodite and she nodded then Natasha then finally he made eye contact with Sam, curious as to what he thought about the whole thing.

"Don't look at me. I do what he does, just slower," Sam vouched.

"Well..." Fury leaned back and let out a sigh. "It looks like you're giving the orders now, Captain."

* * *

Later Aphrodite went outside and found Steve on the bridge looking out into the distance. Cautiously she approached him.

"I know better than to ask you how you're doing," She said announcing her presence. "Only because I know exactly how you're feeling."

"Do you?" He asked harsher than he intended.

Still, Aphrodite smiled and stood next to him looking out over the distance. "Loki, for all his faults, was my brother. And unconditionally, he was my truest friend, and when I lost him it felt as if there was a part of me that I would never get back, but when I did he was so far gone that it felt easier to just give up. But I couldn't."

"Because he's your brother." Steve finished.

Aphrodite nodded. "We can never abandon those we care about, we can only try our best. And hope that it's enough."

"If you had the chance to get him back, would you take it?"

"I don't know," she answered honestly. Turning she slid between him and the barricade of the bridge so that her lower back was pressed against it and she slightly raised her hands in between them. "May I?" She questioned softly.

Steve nodded and Aphrodite gently pressed her thumbs to his temples and let the rest of her fingers slid into his hair as she took a look into his mind.

* * *

_Steve was walking up the stairs to his now empty apartment, Bucky following close behind, trying to talk to him but wasn't really succeeding. "We looked for you, after." Bucky finally tried again. "My folks wanted to give you a ride to the cemetery."_

_Steve looked over his shoulder slightly. "I know, I'm sorry. I just kind of wanted to be alone." He finally said._

_"How was it?" Bucky asked._

_"It was okay. She's next to Dad."_

_When they finally made it to the door of their apartment, Bucky decided to do what he was really here to do. "I was gonna ask..."_

_Steve finally turned to look at him. "I know what you're gonna say, Buck."_

_Bucky sighed, knowing that Steve would always know what he was planning. "I just...We can put the couch cushions on the floor like when we were kids. It'll be fun. All you got to do is shine my shoes, maybe take out the trash._

_While he was talking, Steve was rummaging through his pockets looking for his key but having no luck. Bucky smiled a little bit before turning to the brick he knew the spare key was under. "Come on."_

_Steve took the key from him, looking at it, rubbing it with his thumbs slightly. "Thank you, Buck," Steve finally said appreciatively. "But I can get by on my own."_

_"The thing is," Bucky put his hand on Steve's shoulder. "You don't have to." He gave Steve's shoulder a little squeeze. "I'm with you to 'till the end of the line, pal."_

* * *

When they came back Steve was slowly pulling Aphrodite's hands from his face and holding them in his own.

"Thank you." He said softly.

Aphrodite nodded in response and couldn't help but take note of the space between them that had all but vanished she glanced up into his blue eyes framed by impossibly long dark lashes, that fluttered as he glanced down and let his own gaze linger on her lips. He released his hold on one of her hands and brought it up to cup her cheek, stroking the skin with his thumb.

One more glance down at her lips was all it took for her to lean up and press her lips against his. She kept it simple and gentle for his sake, not wanting to overwhelm him any more considering the day he had, had. Reluctantly she pulled away and found him staring down at her with a different kind of warmth than she was used to, she only had time to ponder that look for half a second before the hand that still cupped her cheek slip into the hair at the back of her head and Steve was the one initiating the kiss this time.

One strong arm wrapped around her waist keeping her upright while the other stayed wrapped in her hair angling her head just the way he wanted it. The first few times they'd kissed she'd been the one initiating it. Keeping them easy and light for both of their sakes, but now he kissed her with all the force that she hadn't used on him, being in control of their kiss for the first time. The arms around her slid down and supported her when he leaned into her a bit more bending her body backwards a little as he chased her with his lips.

When Steve felt her tongue brush against his for the first time a heat travelled across his stomach that he didn't expected and caused him to release a groan that was far beyond his control and pull away from her just so he could breathe. He kept his eyes shut the both of them breathing hard and he couldn't help himself stealing one more kiss from her, then another and another. Kissing her was quickly becoming addicting and it was a drug the he was happily get high on every day if she'd allow him.

Finally he pulled away from her and let his hand slowly remove themselves from her body while she did the same and then used both hands to tuck her hair behind her ears, a nervous gesture that he had never seen from her before.

"We should, um, get some rest. There's a big day tomorrow."

"Yeah." Steve looked down at her and stole one last kiss. "You're right."

She slid out from between him and the barricade. "I'll – I'll see you in the morning." Steve nodded and turned then started walking in the opposite direction. "Wait, where are you going?"

Steve looked back at her with a confident smirk. "If you're gonna' win a war, you've gotta wear a uniform."

Aphrodite smiled in amusement having an idea of where he was heading, before making her way back into the facility.

* * *

That morning a guard walks into the Smithsonian Museum. When he looks over to the Captain America exhibit he finds that Captain America's World War II uniform has been stolen off the dummy. "Oh, man. I am so fired!" The guard groans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Helicarrier fight is up next, I'd love to hear your thoughts and what you guys would like to see. I always love your ideas.
> 
> As always let me know what you think and what you'd like to see in the future. Leave me a review too, I'll be answering/responding to the ones can. So feel free to say or ask me anything.


	44. Chapter 44

At the Triskelion the Helicarriers are still being held and prepared for their launch. "We are in final launch sequence," a Shield computer announces.

"We are go on guidance," Shield Tech calmly reports.

"All personnel, to launch station," Shield computer requests.

* * *

Meanwhile, Alexander Pierce meets up with the World Security Council as they arrive in the lobby of the Triskelion.

"And how was your flight?" Pierce asks walking in the middle of them.

"Lovely. The ride from the airport less so," Councilwoman Hawley bluntly answers.

"Sadly, Shield can't control everything," Pierce replies.

"Including Captain America," Councilman Rockwell adds on in annoyance. Ignoring his comment, Pierce walks over to one of the guards who hands him a case containing four pins.

"This facility is biometric ally controlled, and these will give you unrestricted access," Pierce informs them. The council members each take a pin to wear as Pierce holds out the case to each of them.

* * *

At the Project Insight headquarters there are techs sat in front of the computers monitoring said project. "I've been parking there for two months," One of the techs says to his friend.

"But it's his spot," The other says back.

"So where's he been?" The first tech questions.

"I think Afghanistan," The other tech responds.

"Negative, DT‐6. The pattern is full," The first tech reports into his earpiece before turning his attention back to his friend.

"Well, he could have said something," suddenly there's a sharp noise through their earpieces, "Ow!"

"Must be the dish," The tech mumbles in confusion.

"I'll check it out," The first tech says with a sigh. As he goes and opens the door to leave he's faced with a super-solider, a goddess, a former para-rescue and a loyal Shield agent on the other side. Sam and Maria with their guns pointed at him.

"Excuse us," Steve shoots the tech a pointed look. The tech immediately holds his hands up and steps aside to let them enter with a nervous, slightly scared look on his face.

* * *

"I know the road hasn't exactly been smooth, and some of you would have gladly kicked me out of the car along the way. Finally we're here, and the world should be grateful," Pierce address the Council with a smile on his face handing out glasses of champagne.

As they start to drink to Pierce's toast they suddenly hear Steve over the Shield intercom that everyone in the building can hear.

"Attention, all Shield agents. This is Steve Rogers. You've heard a lot about me over the last few days, some of you were even ordered to hunt me down. But I think it's time you know the truth. Shield is not what we thought it was, it's been taken over by Hydra. Alexander Pierce is their leader. The strike and Insight crew are Hydra as well. I don't know how many more, but I know they're in the building. They could be standing right next to you. They almost have what they want: absolute control. They shot Nick Fury and it won't end there. If you launch those Helicarriers today, Hydra will be able to kill anyone that stands in their way, unless we stop them. I know I'm asking a lot, but the price of freedom is high, it always has been, and it's a price I'm willing to pay. And if I'm the only one, then so be it. But I'm willing to bet I'm not," Steve's voice rings throughout the building.

"Did you write that down first, or was it off the top of your head?" Sam breaks the tension as Steve finishes his speech.

"You smug son of a bitch," Councilman Rockwell growls out. "Arrest him,"

Councilman Singh says to two agents entering the room. He assumes them to be Shield agents here to take care of Pierce but he's wrong. The two Hydra agents instead point their guns at Singh.

"I guess I've got the floor," Pierce taunts the council.

* * *

Rumlow and his men stalk into the deathly silent control room and Rumlow walks over to one of the techs. "Pre-empt the launch sequence send those ships up now," Rumlow orders. When the tech doesn't move to do as he says only glances back at the Strike commando nervously Rumlow questions, "Is there a problem?"

"I'm…" the tech shakes his head nervously.

"Is there a problem?" Rumlow snaps raising his voice. Everyone in the room is now watching the two.

"I'm sorry, sir," the tech takes a few nervous breathes before replying, "I'm not gonna' launch those ships. Captain's orders." In response Rumlow points his gun at the tech's head.

"Move away from your station," Rumlow orders angrily. Agent 13 immediately walks over to Rumlow and points her gun at him in return.

"Like he said," Sharon snaps as all the Shield agents draw their weapons and point them at Rumlow and the Strike agents, "Captain's orders."

"You picked the wrong side, Agent," Rumlow growls out pressing the barrel of the gun against the tech's head.

"Depends on where you're standing," Sharon shoots back instantly. Rumlow drops his gun, but as he does he grabs his knife and cuts Sharon on the arm, leading to the Shield agents firing their guns. Amidst the bullets Rumlow overrides the system to release the Helicarriers and continues firing at the Shield agents as he runs off.

The bay doors holding the Helicarriers are about to open the techs there having received the confirmation to initiate the launch sequence.

"Close the bay door! Close the bay door now! Close the bay door!" A Shield agent frantically yells rushing towards the control room. Before this can be done though the Hydra agents enter and start shooting and killing the crew and techs.

At the headquarters Maria is watching on the monitor as the Helicarriers are being initiated. "They're initiating the launch," Maria reports in shock.

* * *

Sam, Steve and Aphrodite are making their way to the Helicarriers after what Maria had told them.

"Hey, Cap, how do we know the good guys from the bad guys?" Sam questions as they run towards the deck.

"If they're shooting at you they're bad." Steve answers. Sam extends his wings and flies off while Steve jumps down onto the bay and Aphrodite flies down behind him.

"Hey, Cap, I found those bad guys you were talking about," Sam suddenly reports.

"You alright?" Aphrodite asks in concern.

"Not dead yet," Sam answers.

* * *

Pierce watches the commotion caused by Steve, Sam and Aphrodite from the window. As they try to stop the launching of the Helicarriers he turns to Singh.

"Let me ask you a question. What if Pakistan marched into Mumbai tomorrow, and you knew that they were gonna drag your daughters into a soccer stadium for execution?" Pierce hands Singh a glass of champagne, "And you could just stop it with a flick of a switch. Would you? Wouldn't you all?"

"Not if it was your switch," Councilman Singh snaps in disdain. Singh tosses the glass aside and one of the HYDRA agents hands Pierce a gun, which he aims at Singh. But before he can shoot Hawley kicks Singh away and takes down the other Hydra agents in the room before taking the gun and pointing it at Pierce. She then touches the side of her face and it seems to pixelate before she removed her wig.

"I'm sorry. Did I step on your moment?" Natasha says smiling smugly.

* * *

"Satellites in range at three thousand feet," Charlie weapons tech reports.

"Falcon, status?" Maria demands. While Steve and Aphrodite are fighting off the hydra agents on their carrier.

"Engaging," Sam reports. He dives down towards the carrier, dodging attacks along the way, and just manages to make it down onto the bay.

"Alright, I'm in," Sam informs them. Just then another Hydra jet heads his way and starts shooting at him. "Shit," Sam curses. He manages to fly off and avoid getting hit.

"Eight minutes you two," Maria warns.

"Working on it," Steve replies catching his shield.

* * *

"What are you doing?" Singh questions Natasha

"She's disabling security protocols and dumping all the secrets onto the Internet," Pierce answers for her.

"Including Hydra's," Natasha adds shooting him a quick look.

"And Shield's. If you do this, none of your past is gonna remain hidden," Pierce warns but Natasha continues to type, "Are you sure you're ready for the world to see you as you really are?"

She pauses for a moment and locks eyes with Pierce. "Are you?" She says with a small smirk.

* * *

"Be careful." Steve warns as Aphrodite prepares to head off to the other carrier.

"Shouldn't I be telling you that?" She responded with a smirk before jumping of the edge and to her own designated helicarrier.

Luckily there were relatively few hydra agents on this carrier therefore it was easier for Aphrodite to take them out and fly down to where to control station was locked. Maria Hill having briefed her beforehand, she easily switched out the targeting blades and flew back out.

"Alpha locked," She reported.

"Falcon, where are you now?" Maria asked anxiously.

"I have to take a detour!" Sam exclaims. He's flying towards one of the Helicarriers when he had started getting shot out by hydra missiles. He flies back towards the Helicarrier and dodge the missiles that were aimed at him, making them hit the glass dome surrounding the helicarrier creating an entrance for him. "Oh, yeah!" Sam happily exclaims flying in, "Bravo locked," He flies back out.

"Alright, that's two down. How's it coming, Cap?" Maria questions.

"Still working on it!" Steve repeats grunting still fighting off agents.

* * *

"All Shield pilots, scramble. We're the only air support Captain Rogers has got," Shield pilot orders into his radio. As they head towards the jets one suddenly explodes causing the pilots to stumble back. The Winter Soldier appears and starts firing at the Shield pilots and agents, killing them all. After they're all dead he climbs into one of the jets and flies off toward the last helicarrier.

* * *

"Disabling the encryption is an executive order, it takes two Alpha Level members," Pierce points out confidently.

"Don't worry, company's coming," Natasha smirks again. Then, like clockwork a helicopter lands outside and Nick Fury climbs out.

"Did you get my flowers?" Pierce jokes as Fury enters getting a cold look. "I'm glad you're here, Nick."

"Really? Cause I thought you had me killed," Fury scoffs.

"You know how the game works," Pierce replies.

"So why make me head of Shield?" Fury questions genuinely curious.

"Cause you're the best and the most ruthless person I ever met," Pierce answers as if it's obvious.

"I did what I did to protect people," Fury all but growls.

"Our enemies are your enemies, Nick. Disorder, war. It's just a matter of time before a dirty bomb goes off in Moscow, or an EMP fries Chicago. Diplomacy? Holding action, a band‐aid. And you know where I learned that; Bogota." He said smiling at the memory as if he expected Fury to do the same, "You didn't ask, you just did what had to be done. I can bring order to the lives of seven billion people by sacrificing twenty million. It's the next step, Nick, if you have the courage to take it," Pierce says passionately.

"No, I have the courage not to," Fury disagrees.

Fury takes Pierce by his arm to the retinal scanner with Natasha pointing her gun at him. "Retinal scanner active," Shield computer reports.

"Don't you think we wiped your clearance from the system?" Pierce tells them.

"I know you erased my password, probably deleted my retinal scan, but if you want to stay ahead of me, Mr. Secretary…" Fury removes his eyepatch to reveal his scarred dead eye, "You need to keep both eyes open." They both look into the retinal scanner, Fury using his dead eye.

"Alpha Level confirmed. Encryption code accepted. Safeguards removed," Shield computer informs the people in the room.

* * *

"Charlie Carrier's forty‐five degrees off the port bow," Maria reports before noticing the two HYDRA agents breaking into the headquarters and shoots them as they enter, "Six minutes."

"Hey, Sam, I'm gonna need a ride," Steve calls through the comms.

"Roger! Let me know when you're ready!" Sam answers easily.

Just as Steve dodges another missile that was aimed at him by jumping of the end of the bay.

"I just did!" Steve spoke calmly for a man who was currently freefalling at a fast pace. Luckily Sam spotted him and quickly dove down to catch him grabbing him by the arm and shooting back up depositing them onto the final helicarrier.

"You know, you're a lot heavier than you look," Sam grunts,

"I had a big breakfast." Steve responds cheekily.

Sam was about to respond when the Winter Soldier suddenly jumps out from behind a crate and tackles Steve off the edge of the helicarrier.

"Steve!" Sam worriedly yells and immediately goes to save him but Bucky grabs one of his wings and throws him back to prevent this. Sam stops his backwards momentum and starts to shoot at him in response forcing the Winter Solider to retreat, and as Sam goes to fly off again he uses a grappling hook to latch onto one of Sam's wings and pull him back down, then with another sharp tug he pops the wings right off before charging forward and kicking him off the Helicarrier.

Sam only just manages to get his parachute out before landing on the roof of the Triskelion.

"Cap? Cap, come in. Are you okay?" Sam rushes out in worry as he rights himself.

"I'm alright. I'm still on the helicarrier." Steve respond as he begins pulling himself up from the edge. "Where are you?"

"I'm grounded, the suit's down. Sorry, Cap." Sam apologizes sincerely but can't deny the relief he feels when hhe hears that Steve was alright.

"Okay, I've got it." Steve says finally getting himself back up on board the helicarrier.

* * *

"Falcon," Hill called through the comms.

"Yeah?"

"Rumlow's headed for the council."

"I'm on it." Sam responded unzipping his vest.

* * *

Steve ran to the control deck of the final carrier but found his path to the panel blocked by the Winter Soldier, no, Bucky.

"People are gonna die Buck." Steve tells him. "I can't let that happen." Steve tries to break through to his best friend "Please don't make me do this." His plea receives nothing but a cold glare.

Steve steels himself by taking a deep breath then launches his shield.

* * *

Brock made it close to the control room, but once he walked inside Sam punched him in the face and kneed him in the stomach, he made to hit him again but Rumlow blocked it and head-butted him instead throwing him to the ground.

"This is gonna hurt." He told him as he began to unzip his vest and shrugging it off. "There are no prisoners with Hyd. Just order. And order only comes from pain. Are you ready for yours?"

"Man," Sam snapped. "Shut the hell up!" He said throwing the first punch.

* * *

Once all the secrets had come up on the internet, Natasha looked down at her phone with a proud smile. "Done." She then noticed something else. "And it's trending."

Alexander Pierce looked back and forth at everyone standing around before pressing the one button a button on his phone then watched as all of the World Council leaders began to collapse, Nick and Natasha immediately pointing their guns at Pierce. "Unless you want a two inch hole in your sternum, I would put those down." They looked at him in disbelief. "That was armed the moment you pinned it on."

Nick was the first to put his gun down not wanting to risk Natasha's life. Natasha reluctantly also putting down her gun while levelling Pierce with a hateful glare.

Pierce had moved to the computer, finding himself in charge again as everyone else just glared at him. He hit some buttons, putting himself in communication with the men who were in charge of launching the helicarriers into action. "Lieutenant, how much longer?"

"Targeting grid engaged." The younger man reported. "Lowering weapons array now."

* * *

"Aphrodite!" Maria Hill calls through the comms.

"Yeah?" She responds as she was headed for the rendezvous point.

"The Carlie carrier is still not locked. We're running out of time." She stresses.

"I'm on it." Aphrodite responds then takes off in the direction of the final carrier.

* * *

Aphrodite flew through the glass of the control room just as Steve and Bucky fell over the edge of the platform they were just fighting on.

They both landed hard but Bucky got first and then stood over Steve metal arm gearing up to deliver another blow, but as he went to connect with Steve's face he found himself being blasted back when he instead connected with a shimmering gold barrier, and turned to see the other blonde from the bridge as the culprit, making her his mission as well.

He charged at her grabbing her around the waist trying to tackle her down but she kneed him in the head once, twice, before he released him grip and she pushed his chest making him stagger back. He swung at her but she dodged, and took her own swing but he managed to catch her fist in this left hand, his metal hand, and bent her wrist back before kicking her in the side temporarily disposing of her.

At some point, Steve had lost his shield, and as he ran for the target blade, Bucky threw it into his back. He kicked it up just in time to block the shots that were just fired at him then threw it back at Bucky again who blocked it with his metal arm.

Aphrodite made her way to them just as Bucky stabbed Steve in the shoulder and Steve head-butted him three times which forced him to let go and Steve turned to pull the knife from his shoulder as Bucky made a grab for the targeting chip.

That was when Aphrodite made her move jumping at Bucky, swinging herself around his body and sliding onto his back wrapping her arms around his neck and squeezing tightly to cut off his oxygen and hopefully get him unconscious long enough for Steve to act.

Steve the wasted no time in grabbing the discarded chip and figuring out the best and quickest way back up to the control panel knowing that Aphrodite couldn't hold him for long. Because the Winter Soldier was tenacious as they came she found as he reached back and grabbed a handful of her hair in both hands and used it the flip her over his shoulder and she landed hard on the glass of the helicarrier.

"One minute." Aphrodite heard Maria Hill over the sound of her own coughs.

Immediately following that was the sound of a gunshot, and Aphrodite turned to see Bucky getting to his feet looking dazed but his metal arm held his remaining gun aimed up at the control panel where Steve was still climbing. Clearly he was still out of it enough to miss, even a second time as another gunshot went off.

"Thirty seconds!" Maria said urgently.

Aphrodite watched Bucky position himself and steady his gun taking aim, knowing this time wouldn't be a miss, she swung her leg out tripping him just as he fired and landed on his back and Aphrodite moved quickly bracing herself on his chest so she could wrap a leg around the back of his head the other locked over her ankle and throw herself down onto her back, keeping him locked between her legs, he managed to worm his flesh hand between them and wrapped to tight around the front of her neck.

Aphrodite knew that she would have to release him soon because he was relentless in his tight grip around her throat even as he scrambled for purchase on the glass and struggled for breath and she was fading too, she would have to let go before one or both of them lost consciousness. As a last ditch to buy Steve a bit more time, she shifted her hold so that when she sharply thrusted upward with her hips, she heard the pop of his arm coming elbow along with his cry of pain as they both finally began loosened their grips, his more involuntary than hers.

"Charlie locked." She finally heard Steve's strained voice.

"Okay, you two get out of there." Maria spoke as she changed the targeting systems.

"Fire now." Steve demanded stumbling to the edge of the deck to look down at Bucky and Aphrodite on the deck below.

"But Steve –" Maria tried to argue.

"Do it now." Steve yelled

Maria sighed but did as she was told pushing the button that started the helicarriers firing at one another.

The helicarriers began to tear each other apart and as more shots hit the one that they were on the inside began to break apart. Aphrodite spotted a large piece of metal falling towards where she and Bucky were, teleported them both to the other side of the deck and quickly while he was disoriented reach up her hand and placed it on his head forcing the memory that Steve had shared with her inside.

* * *

Alexander looked out the window of the meeting room with a deep sigh. He shook his head as the shots continued to fire. "What a waste."

"Still on the fence about Rogers' chances?" Natasha gloated.

Pierce then looked over at Natasha, grabbing her arm. "Time to go, councilwoman." Natasha looked over at Fury, trying to give him a reassuring look, but he wasn't buying into it. "You're gonna fly me out of here."

Nick refused to look at him as he began to walk out. "You know," he began, but Alexander just kept going. "There was a time when I would have taken a bullet for you."

"You already did." He finally turned around, speaking in a cocky tone. That's when Natasha pulled out her widow bite making the most of his distraction. She pushed the button and promptly crumbled to the ground at the electric shocks running through her system and temporarily shorting out the pin.

Pierce watched in disbelief as the screen on his phone rebooted but turned at the sound of a gun cocking and saw Fury aiming at him then her shot him twice in the chest.

He then hurried over to Natasha, "Romanoff," He said in an attempt to rouse her then began to shake when she didn't respond. "Romanoff." He whispered. She didn't even move. "Natasha!" He tried again desperately.

Her eyebrow began to raise, Nick breathed a sigh of relief. When her eyes opened, she weakly looked around. "Ow." She whispered. "Those really things do sting."

As Alexander Pierce laid there, the hole in his chest pouring out the blood, his ships outside were crashing into the Potomac. He only had one sentence he wanted to mutter before he died. "Hail Hydra."

* * *

Aphrodite heard a thud nearby and turned to see that Steve had jumped, or fell judging by his landing, down to the level where she and Bucky were, both having released each other after she'd given him back a small memory.

"Steve-" She stood and rushed closer to him upon seeing the blood soaking the front of his suit.

"You need to go." He said cutting her off and stopping her when she tried to get a better look at his wound.

"What? I'm not leaving you-" She was cut off once again by another missile hitting the carrier both of them stumbling and struggling to keep their balance as what was left of the ship rocked violently.

"Listen to me," Steve ordered taking her by the upper arms. "Get out of here, find Sam, alright?"

She shook her head. "No, I won't."

Steve sighed and used his grip on her arms to pull her into a hard, almost bruising kiss.

"I'm not going to lose you." He said once they broke apart.

Aphrodite finally relented. "I'm coming back for you." She said he nodded.

"Go." He said then released her going over to help Bucky.

* * *

The Charlie ship was drifting towards the Shield building, right by the floor where Sam and Brock were still fighting. Brock blocked Sam's punch before punching him in the face and throwing him over a table.

"You're out of your depth, kid." Brock told Sam.

Sam rolled over and noticed the helicarrier drifting toward them and scrambled to get up running in to opposite direction.

"Son of a bitch." Brock cursed as he too began running off but Sam had a bigger lead and Brock was crushed by the falling debris.

"Please tell me there's someone in the air!" Sam pleaded as he ran.

"Sam! Where are you?" Aphrodite asked as Sam slid underneath a falling cement block.

"Forty first floor!" He yelled as he got closer to the window. "Northwest corner!"

"I'm on it!" Aphrodite yelled. "Stay where you are!"

"Not an option!"

Aphrodite spotted the helicopter a few floors below where it was supposed to be and flew as fast as she could to grab Sam as he jumped out of the window of the collapsing building.

"Forty first floor!" She heard Sam yell to who she assumed was Fury after she had caught and tossed him into the helicopter. "Forty first!"

"It's not like they put the floor numbers on the outside of the building!" Fury yelled over the helicopter's motor.

"Hill, where's Steve?" Natasha asked through her comm. "You got a location on Rogers?"

Aphrodite flew alongside the helicopter for a beat before finally spotting only helicarrier that was currently still in the air but exploding from the inside.

"There!" She pointed out to Natasha and without waiting for them to follow took off in the direction of it.

* * *

The Winter Soldier, Bucky, stares down at the man in confusion. Why did he save him, pull him out of the river? He was the mission, and yet it felt as saving him was the right thing to do. For some reason he couldn't let him drown, he couldn't let him die.

That woman did something to his head, something different from what Hydra had been doing to him for decades, she didn't hurt him. Well, he thought looking down at his limp arm, she didn't hurt his head. And he had a fuzzy image of this man because of it, only he was smaller, more fragile. And he himself was there too, younger with two normal human arms. But that didn't make any sense. He was a weapon, and always had been. Wasn't he?

_"Til' the end of the line."_

He was brought out of his thoughts out the sound of something landing behind him and turned to see the woman standing there, concern filling her eyes as she glanced back and forth between him and the man behind him he stood to the side letting her get a full view of the man before nodding towards her.

"Get help." He said to her gruffly before turning and leaving hearing her scurry across the ground to get to the man. Steve, that part of his brain shouted at him. That was his name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always let me know what you think and what you'd like to see in the future. Leave me a review too, as you can see I'll be answering/responding to the ones can. So feel free to say or ask me anything.


	45. Chapter 45

The first thing Steve heard when he started to regain consciousness was music softly playing along with the beeping of a heart monitor. The strong smell of disinfectant reached him and when he opened his eyes the bright lights confirmed to him that he was in a hospital room.

He turned his head and saw Sam there sitting in a chair reading, Aphrodite next to him leaning up against his shoulder, whether she was reading as well over his shoulder or asleep he couldn't tell.

"On your left."

They both immediately perked up, Sam glancing over with a weary smile but Aphrodite got up and moved closer to the bed.

"You're awake." She breathed in relief.

"Yeah," He said trying to return her bright smile but found that it aggravated his bruised ribs, "How long was I out?"

"Two days."

"Which isn't that bad considering how you looked when you got here." Sam added jokingly.

"Sam." Aphrodite reprimanded gently and Steve got the feeling that it wasn't the first time.

"Alright," He relented standing from his chair and holding his hands up. "I'll go get the nurse, give you guys a minute."

"Good idea."

As he left Aphrodite sat on the edge of the bed.

"What happened?" Steve questioned immediately.

"Shield's gone, Alexander Pierce is dead. Fury shot him. And as far as Hydra, everyone that was involved is either captured or dead."

Steve nodded along then looked like he was deliberating something before asking softly. "Bucky?"

"He's gone." She told him sadly, placing her hand over his. "He pulled you from the river and left. He told me to get help. I'm sorry Steve."

He shook his head, and flipped his hand over underneath hers so his could grip it. "It's okay, I should be thanking you."

"What for?"

"Back on the helicarrier, I said something to Bucky, the same exact thing he said to me in that memory I showed you. He stopped, or he hesitated. That's because of you."

"Technically it was your memory." She said looking down at the suddenly very interesting bedsheets.

No that wouldn't do, Steve thought as he reached out with his other hand and tilted her head up with his fingers under her chin. "Thank you." He said sincerely before leaning in as much as his injured ribs would allow and giving her a quick peck on the lips.

"You're welcome."

Their moment was interrupted when Sam returned with the nurse in tow and Aphrodite made to move off the bed but Steve's hand tightening around hers kept her in place.

"Good morning Mr. Rogers, how are we feeling?" the bubbly nurse said brightly.

"Much better now." Steve replied.

"Well can't say I'm surprised, we knew that you healed faster than most it was just a matter of when you were going to wake up." She said going about checking his vitals. "And it's about time too, I was beginning to worry that I'd have to tell your wife some bad news."

Steve's eyes snapped over to where Aphrodite was perched and found her very pointedly looking away from him and glaring hard at Sam when he choked on his laughter. But what intrigued him the most was that for the first time as long as he had known her, Steve saw a blush rising up her neck.

The nurse finished up her checks and left saying she would be back shortly.

"Uh?" Steve hummed grinning.

"They would not let me, ride along in the ambulance with you," Aphrodite immediately began. "It was the only thing I could think of." She snapped ignoring Sam's laughter and Steve's small smirk.

* * *

At a committee hearing Natasha is being sworn. "Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth?" A committee member questions.

"I do," Natasha swears.

"Why have we yet heard from Captain Rogers?" the committee general asks.

"I don't know what's left for him to say. I think the rock in the middle of the Potomac made his point fairly eloquently," the redhead answers easily while crossing her arms over her chest.

"Well, they could explain how this country's expected to maintain its national security now that he and you, and an extra-terrestrial who quite frankly has no business being involved in this country's security, have laid waste to our intelligence apparatus," the committee general shoots back with a slight attitude.

"HYDRA was selling you lies, not intelligence," Natasha bit out trying her best not to tear the senator a new one for his attitude and his insinuations towards Aphrodite.

"Many of which you seem to have had a personal hand in telling," the general tells her what she already knows. "Agent, you should know that there are some on this committee who feel, given your service record, both for this country and against it, that you belong in a penitentiary, not mouthing off on Capitol Hill."

"You're not gonna put me in a prison. You're not gonna out any of us in a prison. You know why?" she asked smirking slightly as she already knew the answer.

"Do enlighten us," Scudder sighs in annoyance.

"Because you need us. Yes, the world is a vulnerable place, and yes, we helped make it that way. But we're also the ones best qualified to defend it. So if you want to arrest me, arrest me. You'll know where to find me," Natasha says evenly leaving no room for further questions as she gets up and walks away.

* * *

"Are you sure this is allowed?" Aphrodite asked Steve as he held up the yellow police tape for her to slip under.

"Of course," Steve said opening the door. "Technically this is still my apartment. I just want to grab a few things before it gets cleaned out."

"Alright," Aphrodite said sceptically. "Just be quick."

Steve nodded and moved into the bedroom and went about gathering whatever it was he needed from in there.

Steve had been discharged from the hospital earlier in the day, the nurses and doctors having no reason to keep him any longer since he healed so quickly, though the same cheeky nurse did warn that it wouldn't be wise for him to engage in any strenuous activity, she had said mischievously with a pointed look in Aphrodite's direction. She had honestly thought Sam was about to burst a lung from laughing so hard.

Aphrodite wandered through the small apartment the broken glass from the window crunching under her heels as she reminisced over the memories that they've made there.

Moving over to the bookshelf she noticed something there that hadn't always been there.

It was Steve's compass, the one that held a picture of Peggy Carter, she knew that it was of great importance to him and snapped it close just as Steve exited the bedroom with a bag in his hand.

Wordlessly she held the compass out to him and he glanced at it with a contemplative look then back up into her eyes before he took it with a soft thanks as he placed it into his bag.

"All set?" She questioned him.

"Yeah."

"What happens now?"

"You'll see," he answered with a small smirk that told her that he had something planned. "C'mon," he said taking her hand and lacing their fingers. "We've gotta go see Fury at his funeral."

She laughed. "Still sounds so strange." She said letting him lead her from the apartment.

* * *

"So, you've experienced this sort of thing before," said Fury as he approached Steve, Aphrodite and Sam at the graveyard.

"You get used to it," said Steve, the three of them looking down at the grave stone with Fury's name on it, placed over an empty, buried coffin.

Aphrodite gave Steve's hand a gentle squeeze as he said that.

"We've been data mining Hydra's files. Looks like a lot of rats didn't go down with the ship," said Fury, looking over at the three.

He was standing before them, staring down at his own tombstone, with sunglasses on and a hoodie over his head. Since technically he was supposed to be dead, he had to stay in disguise.

"I'm headed to Europe tonight," said Fury. "Wanted to ask if you'd come."

He was looking right at Steve when he said that.

"There's something I gotta do first," Steve responded and he did, it just probably wasn't what Fury was assuming.

"How about you, Wilson? Could use a man with your ability," said Fury, turning his gaze to Sam.

"I'm more of a soldier than a spy," responded Sam.

Fury then turned his gaze to Aphrodite. "I'm neither." She said with a shake of her head.

"Alright then," he said instead, shaking Sam's hand before going over to shake Steve's. "If anybody asks for me, tell them they can find me right here." He said shaking Aphrodite's hand last.

"You should be honoured," said Natasha's voice from behind the three of them, making them turn around to see her walking up to them while Fury himself already was walking away from them. "That's about as close as he gets to saying 'thank you'."

"Not going with him?" asked Steve, as began walking towards her to meet her halfway, while Aphrodite stayed behind with Sam.

"No," she sang and they came to a stop, keeping her hands behind her back.

"Not staying here," Steve concluded.

"Nah…" she drew out the reply. "I blew all my covers, I gotta go figure out a new one."

"That could take some time,"

"I'm counting on it, that thing you asked for; called in a few favours from Kiev."

As she removed her hands from behind her back, she revealed a brown folder, which Steve took staring down at it with a contemplative expression.

"Will you do me a favour?" Natasha's question had him looking back up at her. "Don't wait so long on this one." She looked past him and he glanced back to see her talking about Aphrodite who was smiling at something Sam had said.

"I don't plan on it." Was Steve's response with a crooked smile.

"Good." Natasha said approvingly before leaning up and pressing a gentle kiss to his cheek. "Be careful Steve," she added as he turned to leave and Aphrodite approached. "You may not want to pull on that thread."

"You're leaving." Aphrodite stated rather than asked.

"Yeah," Natasha responded. "There's some, things I need to do."

Aphrodite nodded and didn't press any further, the two of them had made progress in their friendship but Natasha was still extremely secretive. "You going to be okay out there?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Natasha nodded shrugging a shoulder nonchalantly. "Will you?"

"Yeah," Aphrodite looked back at Steve and Sam. "I've got plenty to keep me busy."

"Take care of them."

"Take care of yourself."

The redhead then drew her in for a surprising hug, which Aphrodite returned.

"I think I'm going to miss you, just a little bit." Aphrodite teased as they pulled away.

"Only a little?" Natasha teased right back. "I'll miss you too." Natasha said before turning around and walking away.

Aphrodite walked back to Steve and Sam just as Steve closed the folder he's been thumbing through.

"You're going after him?" Sam asked but they all already knew the answer.

"You two don't have to come with me." Steve responded giving them both a choice.

Aphrodite mad a noise of pure disbelief. "You're not getting rid of me that easy."

"So, when do we start?" Sam asked determinately.

"I'll call you, and let you know." Steve said looking at Sam. "We've got plans tonight." he added wrapping an arm around Aphrodite.

"We do?" She asked confused, but amused.

"Yeah," Steve answered confidently. "It's Friday, we've got a date tonight." That was when understanding lit up her eyes.

"Alright then," Sam seemed to take great delight in teasing them both, "I guess I'll see you two in a few days," he said shaking Steve's hand and pulling Aphrodite into a half hug. As he walked away he called over his shoulder and called, "Remember what the doctor said, don't strain our boy."

"Bye Sam." She called back loudly rolling her eyes at his retreating back before turning her gaze back onto Steve. "So what do you have planned?" She asked him as he began to lead them in the opposite direction.

"Well back in my day, the only proper first date was dinner and a movie, maybe a little dancing after."

"Really?"

"Yeah, but don't tell anyone," he said dropping his voice to whisper, "I'm kind of making this up as I go along."

Aphrodite laughed, "Your secret's safe with me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next few chapters will include their first date, sometime hunting down the Winter Soldier then we get into Age of Ultron which I'm super excited for. Not only because Aphrodite will meet Wanda, but because somewhere in between all that Thor is gonna find Aphrodite and will be confronted with his sister's new relationship.
> 
> Good times.
> 
> As always let me know what you think and what you'd like to see in the future. Leave me a review too, I'll be answering/responding to the ones can. So feel free to say or ask me anything.


	46. Chapter 46

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some M rated scenes ahead.
> 
> Song for this chapter is John Legend- You and I, you'll know when to start playing it ;)

Steve shot Sam a quick text letting him know the address and that they'd start work in the morning. He had been forced to rent a room at a hotel outside of DC, due to the fact that their apartment was officially no longer his. He'd showered and shaved in the bathroom and offered it up to her to get ready, whatever that entailed for her, he still had no idea how she did it. But didn't he didn't care a bit how she got her clothes once she'd stepped out of the bathroom in that dress.

It was white, long sleeved stopping just above her knees, tight in all the right spots, and when she turned to close the door behind herself he got a full view of the back of the dress, or more accurately her back since it was entirely backless. His eyes followed her bare back, over her backside and down her legs straight to her heels and he gulped.

There was a part of him that wanted to see her in that dress all the time, then another, much less respectable side had a much cruder suggestion that was so tempting at the moment. God, he was going to make this woman officially his by the end of the night if it killed him. Then he quickly snapped his eyes back up to hers when she turned around.

"What's wrong?" She asks him, seeing his wide-eyed look and the fact that his shirt was still half unbuttoned. Not that she was much complaining about the latter.

"Nothing," Steve said shaking his head and quickly finishes buttoning up the blue shirt. "I just- you look beautiful." He finally manages to get out, all the confidence he may have had earlier evaporated at the sight of her.

"Thank you, you look handsome, that shirt brings out your eyes."

When will he ever control his blush around her? Probably never. "Thank you, he said looking down then back up at her, "So uh, there's a theatre not too far from here, they're screening the Wizard of Oz tonight, I thought we could go see that then have dinner."

"Sounds good." She said still smiling.

Steve let out a relieved breath, "We might have to walk, or I could call a cab if you'd rather. I mean I don't have my bike anymore so-"

"Steve, look at me," Aphrodite said interrupting his nervous rambling remaining calm enough for the both of them and moving closer. "I don't mind walking. And relax, nothing has change, not really."

"What?" Steve questioned looking adorably confused. "I thought that-"

"Think about this." She stopped him again and rubbed her hand along his forearm. "These past months, we've done literally everything together, we live together. We sleep in the same bed. All this," she gestured between them. "It's just a formality. After tonight, we don't have to change."

"And if I want it too?"

"We'll see where the night goes."

Steve nodded and smiled that crooked smile of his happy she was able to see what he was trying to do, then nodded his head and took her hand to begin leading her out of the room.

"C'mon, we're gonna be late for the movie."

* * *

The Wizard of Oz was just as good as Steve remembered it to be, the remastered version made it even better, the bright colours were so pleasing. Aphrodite seemed to enjoy it too, giggling at the appropriate moments, getting emotional during others, and the entire time she kept her hand in his. Even as they walked down the street, it was nice. Kept him from overthinking the date and whether or not he was doing things right.

He led them to a nice little Italian restaurant, for dinner. It was small romantic atmosphere with very few other patrons. They were seated at the back, a little booth in the corner and they both began to study their menus.

"I think this is normally the part where we ask each other questions," Steve said as the waiter returned and took their orders. "You know, get to know each other a bit more."

"But, I think we've long since covered that part." She finished for him as her foot began to play with his ankle under the table and tablecloth.

"Yeah," Steve said nodding bashfully, acutely aware of her wandering high-heeled foot.

"There must be something else your curious about."

"How old are you?"

She laughed, "Clever, but no. I'm still not telling you."

"Worth a shot," he said shrugging taking a sip of his water as her foot trailed higher up his leg, "Where do you get all your clothes, and shoes and stuff?" he asked what had been on his mind for a while.

"From Asgard of course." She answered easily thanking their waiter when she brought their meals.

"Yeah no I get that. But how do you get it?" he stressed.

"Oh," she seemed to understand what he was asking. "It's a simple enchantment, mother taught us when we were little. Loki and I were always more interested in magic, but Thor would never pass up and opportunity to skip a part of his routine, in truth it was mostly supposed to be used to prepare one's self for battle in a moment's notice, suffice to say we took full advantage of it."

"Huh," Steve said nodding, he hadn't expected that answer but it made sense. "I have to get dressed the old fashioned way." Steve smiled when she laughed at that and caught her wandering foot in between both of his raising an eyebrow when her eyes locked with his.

"Can I ask you something else?" Steve questioned.

"Of course, anything." Aphrodite responded setting down her glass.

"Do you- has anything come back?"

"I see my father, he's talking to me." She rolled her eyes. "It's useless."

"I'm sorry,"

"For whatever reason, I think I'm exactly where I need to be." She shook her head and took his hand. "My turn." She said prying her foot away from his so she could resume her path up and down his leg. "Would you ever want to go back to Brooklyn?"

"Yeah," he answered immediately. "I would. I do want to go back, pay a visit maybe see how much has changed. I'm just worried, cause' I know it's not my Brooklyn anymore."

"Change isn't always a bad thing. I think you should go, you may be surprised. I'll go with you if you'd like." She added encouragingly.

"I'd love that."

* * *

True to his word they ended up at a dancehall that was situated perfectly between the restaurant and their hotel. The hall was renovated from his time, it maintained much of the structure the live band helped to give it that same old school feel but it had its modern touches here and there that made it the perfect blend of the 40's and the 21st century.

He them straight to the bar when they arrived, despite the fact that neither of them could get drunk, it was the principal of going through the motions. The hall wasn't especially crowded, but there were enough people there and situated around the bar area so that there was only one seat, he was about to offer it to her but she pushed him down into it before he could then stepped in the open space between his legs.

He smirked and raised his foot from where it rested on the rung to get his leg around her and let her lean a bit more of her weight against him before resting it back on the bar, before signaling for the bartender.

They remained that way for while, conversations continued to flow between them as they spoke lowly into one another's ear under the guise of being heard over the sound of the band. But in reality it was an excuse for them to get closer than they already were. That pestering little voice in the back of his mind told him that there was indeed a way that he could get closer to her, much closer. But he resolutely ignored it just like he'd been doing all night long from since he's first seen her in that damn dress.

It was then that she noticed the numbers on the dance floor had reduced to mostly couples the music though was still quite lively. "Would you like to dance?" She asked shyly into his ear before pulling back to gauge his expression, though he was insistent that the night would end in dancing she still wasn't sure.

Steve gazed out into the floor then back into her crystal clear blue eyes. "I think it's time to learn."

"Really?" she asked in no small amount of shock to which Steve just smiled and unwrapped himself from around her before downing the rest of his drink in a single gulp then led them to an open pocket on the dance floor but hesitated on what to do from there.

"Just relax alright?" Aphrodite told him. "Now take my waist," Steve did as told and placed his hand gently on her waist his fingers spreading out so that they made contact with her bare back, "You'll need a tighter hold, I won't break." She told him staring up into his eyes and he did as asked pulling her in tighter to his body and she took his other hand in hers and held it up. "Just like this. And now, we dance."

Aphrodite led them around to the beat of the song until Steve worked up enough confidence to lead.

"See it's not that hard." Aphrodite told him which made him smile so wide that the corners of his eyes crinkled.

They danced around for the next few songs before the upbeat song came to a close as he gently dipped her causing a giggle to come from her as she straightened.

"Do you, want to sit down?" She questioned as a slower song began playing and some of the couples left the floor.

Steve shook his head and smiled a little softer as he took both of the hands and wrapped them around his neck, dropping his own hands down and around to connect at the small of her back resting on her bare skin.

"One more dance." He whispered as they began to sway to the song.

_And if your mirror won't make it any clearer I'll  
Be the one to let you know_

Out of all the girls  
You're my one and only girl  
Ain't nobody in the world tonight

All of the stars, you make them shine like they were ours  
Ain't nobody in the world but you and I  
You and I  
Ain't nobody in the world but you and I

Pulled her closer still, if that were possible as his dipped his head down closer to her shoulder and inhaled her scent before he pressed a soft kiss to the skin there, he felt her shudder then and just pulled her closer still as her arms held him tighter around the neck.

_You stop the room when we walk in_  
Spotlights on everybody staring  
Tell all of these boys, they wasting their time  
Stop standing in line, cause your all mine

And this evening I, won't let the feeling die  
I never wanna leave your side

Steve was sure that with how close he had them pressed together she could most definitely feel where his heart was about to beat out of his chest. He had never felt like this. He was so in love with her that it almost hurt.

_Out of all the girls_  
You my one and only girl  
Ain't nobody in the world tonight

All of the stars you make them shine like they were ours  
Ain't nobody in the world but you and I  
You and I  
Ain't nobody in the world

Aphrodite could undoubtedly feel his heart beating so rapidly because hers was beating the same. She had never felt anything like this before. God she loved this man.

_You keep wondering if you're what I'm wanting  
You don't even have to try_

You don't have to try  
Don't try  
Don't try  
You don't have to try

Out of all the girls  
You my one and only girl  
Ain't nobody in the world tonight

"Aphrodite?" he whispered in her ear, as his thumb ran soothingly across her back.

"Hmm?" She responded in kind.

"I'm going to kiss you now." He stated voice thick with desire.

"Good." She responded before she leaned up and connected their lips. Her lips were always as soft as they looked as they pressed against his. He took one had from her back and let it trail up and around the back of her head as he deepened their kiss letting his tongue run across her bottom lip. Aphrodite let her fingers tangle in the soft hair at the back of his head as she granted him access and felt his tongue snake its way in.

Vaguely Steve registered in the back of his mind that they weren't even dancing anymore, but couldn't find it in himself to care as he tangled his tongue with hers.

Finally they both began to pull back and leaned their foreheads against one another.

_All of the stars, they don't shine brighter than you are_  
Ain't nobody in the world but you and I  
You and I  
You and I  
Nobody in the world tonight  
Ain't nobody in the world but you and I

"You ready to get out of here?" he asked her.

"Yeah." She responded nodding her forehead still against his.

Steve licked his lips and they pulled away from each other fully, and went to gather the few of their belongings from the bar and tipped the bartender.

* * *

"You've been doing so well for someone who's making it all up as they go along," she told him echoing what he'd said earlier in the day and they entered the room. "So what happens next?"

"Well considering I already walked you home," he began dropping down on the couch and tugging her down next to him. "So I think, what comes next is I'm supposed to ask you to be my girl." There he'd said it, finally.

"Nothing would make me happier." She said smiling sweetly, well now that that was done.

He reached across the small space between them and took her chin in his fingers and caught her lips with his again. They picked up right where they left off at the hall his tongue tangling easily with hers. Steve's arm slid from the back of the couch to curl around her shoulders tugging her close. Aphrodite let him, and climbed over his lap pulling her dress up enough to settle a long leg on either side of his hips so she was straddling his lap.

Steve broke their kiss to stare up at her with eyes so dark and heated that they made her gulp, she stared back at him and placed her hands on his sharp jawline and going back in for another searing kiss. His own hands went to her hips squeezing rhythmically.

Aphrodite broke away this time to breath and Steve just dropped his head and pressed hot kisses to her neck which was all he could reach in her dress, as her hips gave a little jerk of their own accord and they both groaned at the contact. His hand slip from her hips, around back to cup the fullness of her ass as he pulled back to stared at her again.

"You're so beautiful." He told her breathlessly and she blushed reached forward to work on undoing the buttons on his shirt, he made the task more difficult than it needed to be when he leaned forward and went back to her neck. He reached up to the back of her neck where the clasp to the top half of her dress was and jus placed his hands there before he pressed his head against her chest and muttered, "Is this okay? Tell me, please. If this is okay?" he groaned again and bit his lip when she ground down hard again on the bulge straining against his jeans.

She gave up on unbuttoning his shirt for the moment, reaching up and pulling her hair over one shoulder to give him better access. "It's okay Steve," she told him and he unclasped the dress before he began to peel it off of her and down her arms. "I want you." He surged up and kissed her again licking into her mouth, before pulling back and laying his eyes on her for the first time, mildly surprised to find her without a bra.

Then he brought his hands on her gently at first, softly squeezing and kneading the soft flesh teasing her with his thumbs before he put his mouth on her gently kissing one while his thumb played with the other. Then his tongue flicked at her nipple before drawing it into his mouth, that was when a moan slipped from her mouth unbridled and her hips started up their rhythm again, so he moved one hand from her chest reaching back around, and under her dress this time to grip the supple flesh there as he continued to wreak havoc on her chest with his hands and mouth.

Aphrodite could feel the fabric of her thin underwear sliding around with every thrust of her hips against his, that's how wet she was. Steve was rocking back up against her determined to chase his own pleasure as well as hers, he nipped at her chest before soothing the bite with his tongue and she buried her fingers in his hair and pulled, hard. Forcing his head back sharply against the couch as he stared at her with his pupils blown so wide there was hardly any blue left.

He growled at the sharp tug of his hair and head, before Aphrodite dove down and started repaying some of the damaged he's caused to her neck on his, reaching between them and tugging on the last few buttons left on his shirt so that it popped open and she could feel his hot, taught skin against hers. Steve took his hands off of her for the moment to shrug out of the now ruined shirt, before they found their place back under the hem of her dress. Neither of them once breaking the rhythm they'd set, instead they only grew more frantic.

"More," he moaned into her mouth when they broke apart again, and she obliged in the best of way moving her hips even faster, rubbing against him in ways that had him clutching her to him like she would disappear if he let go.

He felt himself start to lose his rhythm as he got closer to the end, but he wanted to get her there first. "C'mon, c'mon sweetheart, I'm close." He encouraged using his hands on her to help guide her. "You almost there? Tell me your close baby, please?" she moaned brokenly and nodded her head, her bouncing drawing his attention back to her chest where he set his mouth to her again.

And that was it, a few more thrusts of her hips against his and she was done, fingers wrapped around his hair as she let out the single most beautiful sound he'd ever heard in his life. He was right behind her, seeing and feeling her fall apart in his arms had him tensing and reaching his own end that was so intense he nearly cried from the sheer pleasure of it.

When he came down she was ghosting her lips over his eyelids in no hurry to move from her spot perched on top of him.

"Let's go to bed." She whispered when he opened his eyes to blink lazily up at her.

He made a noise in his throat before dropping his head onto her chest, he shifted prepare to stand and take her to bed with him when he was reminded on his predicament and what had just transpired.

"I uh," he cleared his throat. "I think I need to jump in the shower real quick."

She giggled and nodded her head. "Right."

He grinned and moved his hands to her hips lifting her off of him and setting her on her feet before standing himself and pressing his lips to hers. "Join me?"

She smiled and pulled back just enough to look him in the eye, "Not tonight." Then with a certain glint in her eye she turned around and bent over in front of him picking up his shirt from where he'd tossed it to the floor, Steve was hard again like it had never left when she glanced over her shoulder at him, "I'll be in bed."

Steve watched her go, convinced that there was an extra sway in her hips before he all but dashed to the bathroom to quickly clean himself off so he could get back to her.

After he had cleaned himself and thrown on a pair of sweatpants to sleep in Steve caught a glimpsed of his reflection in the bathroom mirror, he was unsurprised to see his fading red face or his wrecked hair, what did surprise him was the big smile on his face that he could have sworn he's tempered down. He looked like the happiest idiot in the world but he didn't care, he was in love.

He exited the bathroom and turned off the light before crawling into bed bedside her, she was facing his side of the bed but she wasn't asleep he found out as he settled down.

"I was beginning to worry." She said without opening her eyes.

"Don't," he said wrapping his around her and pulling her closer, smiling when she rested her head on his chest and threw a leg over his. "I'm not going anywhere."

She hummed and pressed a kiss to his chest, right above his heart then she mumbled sleepily, "Goodnight Steve."

"Goodnight Aphrodite."

* * *

When Steve woke the next morning it was just as peacefully as it had been whenever he woke up next to Aphrodite, his girl. His sleepy brain reminded him and it made him smile. She had shifted positions through the night and now her back was to him pressed as close as she could get, he still had his arms around her and now it was his leg thrown over hers.

Wondering when exactly he turned into a koala bear Steve wanted nothing more than to bask in the morning after haze, but his bladder had other plans. Carefully untangling himself from around her he went into the bathroom, relieved his bladder and exited the bathroom followed quickly by leaving the bedroom.

The way the hotel room was set up was it had a sliding door separating the bedroom from the main room and kitchenette, so he slid that closed behind him and made his way to the kitchenette to begin making the very generic, no doubt flavourless coffee.

"Good morning." Aphrodite said sliding behind him and pressing her lips to his shoulder before standing on her toes to look over his shoulder and watched his hands work, of course he hadn't heard her get up of exit the room.

"Morning." Steve responded staring forlornly at the cup of coffee he was stirring that would probably be mediocre at best. "Coffee?" He asked her. "Can't guarantee it's gonna be all that great."

She hummed. "No thanks. You weren't there when I woke up." She said as Steve turned around, she gave him just enough space to do that but stayed pressed against him once he righted himself.

"I know, I just got up not too long ago and didn't want to wake you."

"It's alright. I wish you would have stayed, so I could wake you the way I wanted."

Did she mean? Steve's mouth went dry at the implication. If the look in her eye was anything to go by then yes, that's exactly what she meant. "I'm sorry?" Was his confused response.

"It's alright," she said hand trailing up so they could wrap around his neck. "I can get on my knees out here too."

Then she kissed him, hard and fast tongue tangling with his and quickly dominating because his brain hadn't fully caught up with what she was saying yet. This was not at all how he expected the morning to go, but he didn't mind one bit as one hand tangled in her hair and the other found its comfortable new home gripping her ass.

When she broke away to begin kissing down his chest moving lower and lower. His brain finally caught up with what was happening and used his mouth for something other than kissing her.

"Aphrodite," he began as she dropped to her knees and began working down his pants while kissing all along his lower stomach. "Oh sweetheart, you don't have to-"he choked on his protest as she gripped his firmly in one hand locking eyes with him as she said her next words clearly.

"I want to."

Steve's next protest died on his tongue when the warmth of her mouth engulfed him. He panicked for a second about what to do with his hands before settling one down on the countertop and the other rested on top of her head. Not guiding her or pushing her away, just resting there burying his fingers in the silky strands.

He made noises he didn't even know he was capable of as she worked him with her hands, both of them, and her mouth. Later he would wonder if she was just that good by skill alone or if she was faking it. But it felt so good that he didn't even care. When she pulled off of him to suck at the tip and worked her hands over the rest of his length he felt that telltale tightening across his lower stomach and his eyes popped open and locked onto hers.

"Aw shit," he cursed as he tried to warn her. "Aphrodite, honey, sweetheart." He babbled. "I'm gonna-" A loud moan cut him off when she took him back into her mouth seeming to take his warning as a challenge, doubling her efforts taking him all the way down to the back of her throat.

She could tell how close he was long before he could. He was trying to stifle his sounds of pleasure as best he could but was failing miserably, he was writhing and moaning even as he tried to warn her like the gentleman that he was. He was also pushing and pulling at her hair guiding her in a way that he seemed to be totally unaware of.

When she took him in all the way for the second time he was gone, his fingers gripped her hair tight the other cracking the countertop as he closed his eyes and felt his release wash over him. He made noises that she'd never heard from a man before in her life as he spilled himself down her throat. She tried to not make too much of a mess and by some miracle she did, but she doubted that he would care as he was so blissed out slumping back against to countertop.

Gracefully she rose up from her knees wiping the corner of her lips before sticking her thumb in her mouth and sucking off the last traces of  _him._ Then she had the nerve, the fucking audacity to bite her goddamm lip and stare at him like she was the most innocent thing in the world. It made one of Steve's already tentative threads of self-control snap and he growled "Fuck," before reaching out and grabbing her face with both hands crushing his lips against hers.

He spun them around so she was the one trapped between him and the counter. His hands were everywhere he could reach both over and under the button down shirt of his that she was wearing, before he reached down and cupped her ass in both hands picking her up easily and setting her down on the counter.

She pulled back taking his bottom lip with her before releasing it with a pop. What a damn tease, Steve thought when he took another handful of hair at the back of her head and pulled back barring her throat to him before he leaned down and began to wreck some havoc on her neck. She hooked her legs around the back of his thighs and let those intoxicating sounds escape her throat as he found the spot on the side of her neck just below her ear that seemed to make her lose her mind and paid it some close attention.

Once he'd felt that he drove her almost to the brink with just his affections at her neck he took his assault downwards, tugging apart the shirt just enough so he could nip at the top of her chest taking her in his hands because he didn't quite have the patience to just take the shirt off, instead he keep moving down making his intentions very clear. When he had finally gotten down to his knees in front of her she had one had in his hair the other on the counter covering the dents he'd left there only moments again.

He stared up at her like he was going to eat her alive and was fully prepare to do so, operating on instinct rather than any real skill or experience. Unfortunately he never got a chance to see how far instinct alone could take him when a loud knocking at the door interrupted them.

Steve groaned and dropping his head cursing whoever it was on the other side of the door, but he had a pretty good idea.

"It's Sam," Aphrodite said from above him confirming his thoughts. "He has a key." She added.

He groaned before he stood and kissed her one more time, taking her down from the countertop then adjusting himself in his sweats that did nothing to hide the evidence of his arousal that had resurfaced.

"Alright I got coffee, breakfast sandwiches and donuts. Who's ready to go assassin huntin'?" Sam said loudly strolling into the kitchen and setting down the drink tray and the aforementioned items on the counter top. "You two okay?" He asked taking in their flushed appearances and Steve's face and chest like up red like a stop light. "What wrong? What's going down?"

Aphrodite snorted at his chose of words and mumbled, "No one anymore." To which Steve gave her an incredulous look and she just gave him an innocent one in return. "I'm going to go find you a shirt." She said fondly patting his chest.

"So," Sam drawls out once she'd left, smirking at the blonde super soldier. "How'd the date go?" he nearly sang knowingly.

Steve shook his head. "I'm gonna go help her," he said quickly leaving the kitchen. "Honey!" He called out.

Sam smiled unwrapping his sandwich and taking a huge bite out of it taking a look at the finger shaped dents in the countertop and knowing full well what he'd very nearly walked in on, and just happy that their date seemed to have been successful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So first date huh, how did you guys like it?
> 
> As always let me know what you think and what you'd like to see in the future. Leave me a review too, I'll be answering/responding to the ones can. So feel free to say or ask me anything.
> 
> http://i.perezhilton.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/rosie-huntington-whiteley-in-maxmara-maxim-hot-100-party-2011__oPt.jpg


	47. Chapter 47

After some deliberation, most of which was spent ignoring the knowing shit-eating grin on Sam's face, it was decided that it would be best for Steve and Aphrodite to drive from place to place in their search for Bucky. Aphrodite didn't have a passport, visa of anything of the sort to fly, so road trip it was. Sam could get some time off from the VA to join them but would have to go back.

Thanks to the files on the Natasha dumped on the internet gathering the information about the Hydra bases couldn't have been easier. The first and most obvious facility they would hit was in Washington, an abandoned bank vault downtown.

And abandoned it surely was, it seemed like everyone that may have been in this facility immediately jumped ship when Shield/Hydra fell. Papers scattered all throughout the building. Those that didn't run away didn't fare as well.

"Cap," Sam called standing at the doorway staring into another room, "He was here." He added nodding his head into the room.

Inside were half a dozen bodies of dead Hydra agents, bullet holes in between each one of their eyes. Steve clenched his jaw at the sight of them, it was clear that Bucky had done this, as some form of revenge or insurance either way Bucky had been here and there was no telling the margin by which they had missed him.

"Sam," Aphrodite called as she entered the room behind him. "Get on those computers see what you can find out about this place, and if there are any cameras, how long ago he was here."

"You got it." Sam said nodding and moving over to the wall of computers on the other side of the room.

"Hey," she said softly nudging Steve. "C'mon." she said before leading him further down the hall to the room at the very end which was closed off by a set of metal bars, pushing it open the entered what appeared to be the banks main vault converted into some crude version of a hospital room with all the medical equipment laying around.

The only thing that was out of place was the large nightmarish looking chair in the very centre of the room. Steve approached it cautiously staring down at the set of braced on either side. He nudged away a tray that contained a mouth guard and his frown deepened. He eyed the circular device resting just above the seat and got a sick feeling in his stomach.

"What the hell is this thing?" He asked out loud but mostly to himself.

Aphrodite stepped up on the other side of the chair and placed her hand out on the seat, any leftover energy that was running through the chair was very little so she concentrated on it and was bombarded the sounds of raw painful, screams that could only have come from Bucky and jolts of electricity centred on one location.

"This is the machine they used to wipe his memories." She explained and Steve sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth. "Steve," she called when he turned to leave, "It's likely that everywhere we go is going to be just like this. Can you handle that?"

"I have to."

* * *

Steve didn't know why he thought that travelling and looking for Bucky would be all business and no pleasure. Aphrodite could turn anything into a pleasurable, enjoyable experience. And not just in the sexual sense either in fact so far there hadn't been any repeat performances of their first date where they had grinded on each other to completion. Whenever he was with her she had a way of turning everything she did into a test of his self-control, which was dangerously on edge of as of late.

Despite the hopelessness that sometimes set it with every base the hit, she was still pulling him out of whatever crappy hotel room there were staying in in that town. Taking him out to see the sights, her presence and the fresh air were a relief for his crowded brain. She was a constant and positive ray of sunshine, and he couldn't love her more for it.

And he still hasn't repaid her for the,  _ahem_  favour she'd given him the morning after their date in the kitchen, or again in the rental car, or at the rest stop that one time. He just couldn't ever resist her when she levelled him with that look, not that he ever tried all that hard. She seemed to genuinely enjoy what she was doing, and he couldn't tell whether she did it for her own pleasure or his.

Pleasure, that reminded him of something. He glanced over at where she sat in the passenger's seat and would soon find out that, like with most things, their minds were travelling along the same path.

"When he find him, do you think you could do whatever it is you did to him on the carrier, again?" But first they had to finish the discussion they were having concerning Bucky and his memories. They were on the road again together, another base, another dead end, and they were quickly running out of U.S. facilities to investigate.

"The mind is a tricky thing, creating memories or altering them is one thing. Resorting is completely different. With a mind his it's delicate, it's been through a lot. Mixing science and magic could have dire consequence,"

"Just thought I'd ask."

"I didn't say I wouldn't try, let's just find him first." She said shrugging like it was no big deal, which to her it probably wasn't. "Alright, personal question." She added straightening up in the seat and turning to face him pulling a leg underneath her to pay close attention to his answer.

"Hm?" he said glancing at her again before focusing on the long expanse of road before him.

"Are you a virgin?" Steve groaned heavily at the question and briefly hung his head. "Come on I have the right to know don't I?" she teased.

"No, I'm not."

She nodded like he was confirming something she already knew the way he moved that night on the couch was not the way someone moved based off instinct alone, that came from experience, "Peggy?" she went with the best and probably most obvious guess.

He sighed in that self-depreciating way, "No, it was way back, right after I first got the serum. Suddenly all those women started throwing themselves at me, I didn't know any better." He shrugged before hastily adding. "Sorry, this probably isn't what you wanna hear."

"No, it's fine. I never would have guessed. It's nice to know that you're experienced." She told him honestly and calmly.

"Yeah well, I haven't been with anyone since I came out of the ice. Not until you. And none of those girls ever, uh, used their mouths either."

"Really?" she questioned intrigued and nearly beamed when he nodded. "Well they don't know what they were missing." She told him and grinned when he blushed at the compliment.

"Are you a, you know?"

"No, but it's been a long time for me as well."

"You know I've been meaning to ask you, when Nat was teasing me back before we were together she told me she did some research and found some real interesting stuff."

"I always loved reading Midgardian adaptations of us, it's quite entertaining what they think of."

"I'm sure, but I was wondering, you seem to really enjoy using your mouth on me." Steve took a deep breath and spit it out before he completely lost his nerve. "Are you really the God of pleasure?"

"You tell me." She shot back smiling in that sly way that told him she wasn't going to give him a real response. Instead was going to let him stew in his own thoughts about the matter.

* * *

Another crappy hotel room, not as bad as one's they've stayed in in the past few months, but certainly no 5-star hotel either. But it was secluded, took cash and had decent room service, which was all he could ask for at the moment.

Steve hung up the cell phone and dropped himself down on the bed next to his girl who was pouring over a map of Europe, possible Hydra bases circled in red.

"What'd she say?" Aphrodite questioned he had just gotten off the phone with Natasha to see about finding them a ride to Europe.

"She said hi." He said fingers beginning to play with the strap of her top, he absolutely loved the set she was wearing, royal blue tank top and shorts combo with floral patterns, both of which had to have been made from only the finest of silk in Asgard. "As soon as we get back to DC there's a quinjet lined up and ready to go." He went on to explain after getting a look.

"You know how to fly those?"

"Yeah," he said nodding easily, he'd made it a point to learn how after New York.

"Good." She said nodding herself then shrugging him off playfully when he began to nuzzle at her neck. "Come on, we need to have a plan for Europe." She scolded gesturing to the map.

Steve shook his head and moved the map off the bed setting it down on the nightstand. "Who needs a plan?" he said turning his attention back to her.

"I thought you did," she responded letting him tug her down to lay flat on the bed. "You are the star-spangled man with a plan."

Steve groaned stopping his kisses along the strap falling off of her shoulder to drop his head there instead. "I'm gonna kill Sam for showing you those videos." He muttered and she laughed at him.

"You were adorable." She said biting back what was left of her laughter and running her hand underneath his chin and he just barely managed to avoid rolling his eyes at the comment before she pressed her lips to his when he raised his head at her urging.

Their kiss deepened when he rolled over to lay himself on top of her, she spread her legs making room for him so he could settle his hips in between the V of her legs. She wrapped her arms around his neck and his crawled up either side of her ribs until her could cup her in his large hands sucking her bottom lip into his mouth as he did. He had to take his hands off of her to catch her own as they began to slide downwards down his bare chest, he had begun sleeping without a shirt for obvious reasons. It was clear she had intentions of using her hands, if not her mouth as well, on him again but that wouldn't do, not tonight.

"Uh-uh sweetheart, not tonight." She actually pouted and look genuinely disappointed that he was stopping her, and it may have added to the reason he smiled just before kissing her again. "It's your turn." He whispered into her mouth before setting her hands down on the pillow on either side of her head before turning his attention back to her chest, sucking and biting at her nipples through her shirt listening to the sounds she made right by his ear.

The idea of tasting her this way had been on his mind for a while now, especially since she was so enthusiastic about doing it to him. It was only right that he repay the favour. With that in mind he continued his affections downward tugging up her tank top so that it rested just above her breasts pressing his lips around her navel and to any exposed skin he could reach. Then when his nose was skimming along the waistband of her shorts her brought his hands up to begin tugging them down, he glanced up at her hoping to convey without words that he would need her to help guide him from this point. She knew what he wanted of course, she always did and reached down to tangle her fingers in his head nodding for him to continue and raising her hips to help him remove the shorts.

She threw her mile long legs over his broad shoulders and he bit his lip hesitating slightly but was mostly enthralled by the sight of her bare flesh in front of him. He pressed one short deceptively gentle kiss right at her centre and she sighed nearly ready to come undone at that one feeling.

"Steve," she breathed out and he looked up at her looking very much like a solider about to receive the most important mission of his life. "Anything you want to do will be fine, just no teeth." He nodded and snuck one last glance up at her before setting putting his mouth on her parting his lips, and working at her like they were a different pair of lips.

For someone who didn't know what they were doing, he seemed to really know what he was doing. She barely had to give him any direction, instead she had her head thrown back one hand gripping his hair and the other gripping the sheets while she writhed and moaned he had to sling his an arm around her waist to hold her in place, the hand gripping her thigh holding her open when they threatened to close around his head.

He wasn't quiet about what he was doing either, groaning with pure delight every time her taste hit his tongue when he moved down to tease at her entrance, what he lack in skill he made up for in passionate determination to take her apart the same way she'd done for him. He'd gotten his wish in tasting her this way and couldn't be happier, she tasted better than he could have imagined in his wildest dreams.

When Steve focused his attention back on her little bundle of nerves, licking at it before closing his lips around it and sucking it into his mouth she was done. She came harder than she was expecting and Steve was forced to use a little bit of strength to hold her down and open as he helped to ease her through it like she liked to do to him.

"Stop, stop, stop." She begged pushing her hand further into his hair and urging him back when he was clear he had no intentions of stopping. "Stop." She breathed again as he began kissing his way back up her body, until he could slot his mouth over hers, dipping his tongue back in briefly before pulling away hovering over her with his elbows on either side of her body.

"Good?" he asked breathlessly staring down at her through hooded eyes, needing to hear her say it along with her visibly wrecked state.

"So good love," she confirmed kissing him again, the fact that he could still clearly taste her on his tongue and it was clear that she didn't mind sharing the taste made him shudder, thought that might have something to do with the mess he'd made in his pants like a teenager. "Now can I?" she asked mischievously beginning to trailer her hand back down his chest but he stopped her again, still managing to blush despite all this.

"You don't have to," he told her somewhat bashfully, "I already did." He admitted ducking his head.

She hummed pouting again but this time seemed more amused than anything. "Next time?" she offered.

He nodded and looked relieved when he kissed her again just on the right side of forceful, "Absolutely."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://i.pinimg.com/originals/1a/d0/f5/1ad0f5328ada09f5a0d6b7bd72a2809f.jpg
> 
> As always let me know what you think and what you'd like to see in the future. Leave me a review too, as you can see I'll be answering/responding to the ones can. So feel free to say or ask me anything.


	48. Chapter 48

"We knew in coming here that we were going to see that worst of it," Aphrodite whispered to Sam in the kitchen, immediately upon returning to the hotel room Steve stomped into the bedroom clearly in no mood to discuss what was seen earlier. "But nothing could have prepared him for this."

"Yeah that's some heavy stuff," Sam sighed agreeing, "You think he's gonna be alright?"

"He'll pull through, he's just," She paused searching for the right word to describe her lover's current state, "Sad." She finally went with.

"Want me to talk to him?" the pilot suggested.

"No, I'll do it." She declined. "But you shouldn't have to stay here and sulk too." She added.

"I'm not sulking," Sam responded.

"Not yet." She shot back and they both laughed. "But seriously go down to the bar, have a drink. We're probably going to be here a while."

"Alright," He relented pushing off the counter and grabbing his jacket on his way to the door. "You give me a call if you need anything."

"I will. By the way," she called stopping him before he opened the door. "Thank you for being here. You have no idea what it means to both of us. To him."

Sam grinned toothily slipping his hand off of the doorknob. "C'mere girl," he said before tugging her into a tight hug.

She hugged him back resting her head on his shoulder, then she did something she'd done for her brothers many, many times. "When you go down to the bar," she began, sensing Sam's confusion. "There's a woman at the end, in a red dress. A veteran, she's here on business. But she's free for the night." Slowly Sam pulled away eyebrows raised in excitement and a question in his eye when she nodded the affirmative a small smirk on her face he pulled away completely and tugged on his jacket fully.

"Well then, best not keep the lady waiting," he said before pulling open the door, "I'll see you in a few hours."

"Have a good time." She said closing the door behind him. Then she sighed briefly resting back against the door as she thought back to what led them to this point.

* * *

It should have been clear from the start that this base was different from the rest. For starters is was heavily guarded as opposed to the ones in the States. The quinjets computers had read several heat signatures as they flew overhead where the based was located.

That meant that the based was still very much in operation and that Bucky hadn't been there yet, or wasn't coming.

"You still wanna' go in?" Sam questioned the Captain as he explained that his still wanted to search this facility. "Why? We know he ain't here."

"No but this base is still guarded for a reason," Steve responded pulling his shield onto his back. "I'm not leaving until we find out what that reason is." Sam nodded along accepting the explanation as he adjusted his pack. "Sam you go up high draw out as many of those guards as you can, Aphrodite and I will move in. Sweep the perimeter, let us know if there's any movement."

"Roger that." Sam said before lowering the ramp and engaging his wings before taking off the sound of gunfire came only moments after. "All clear. You two can make a break for the entrance." Sam's voice came back in the silence that followed.

"Copy." Aphrodite responded.

Steve nodded and together they made their way to facility's front entrance, the firs bullets that were fired ricocheted off of Steve's shield and back at them. From there the two of them worked in harmony as a pair taking out the Hydra agents. Despite the number of them present they didn't seem too experienced and taking them down was easy. What came next was difficult.

Aside from the very first base, the others held no real prove that the Winter Soldier was housed there before. Meaning that there wasn't any more of the chairs that they used to wipe his memories, which made what they found there all the worse.

The room was huge, on the far side was a chamber of some kind stationed inside one of the walls. Hanging down inside the cylinder were various tubes and wires. In the centre of the room was the same nightmarish chair but with computers surrounding it.

"Anything?" Steve questioned when Aphrodite moved closer to the chamber to place her hand on top of it.

"No," she replied dropping her hand, "Whatever energy that may have been running through here is long gone."

"Alright," Steve said nodding, "Then let's-" he began to say but something on the computer caught his eye as he leaned down to press a few buttons.

It seemed like the agents in this base had begun to delete data from the computers so the files were already opened, all Steve had to do was click on one of them.

Immediately the sounds of tortured screams filled the room and Aphrodite jolted recognized the person that those screams belonged to and hurried to Steve's side.

On the tiny screen Bucky Barnes was strapped down the halo-like contraption lowered onto his head and sending out constant volts of electricity. Bucky was fighting though, struggling to free himself from the bonds that were clamped down over his arms and legs, until he could do nothing but sit there and scream through the pain.

Finally the screams stopped and he slumped down in the chair staring blankly ahead, completely void of expression and emotion.

_"Put him on ice."_ A voice from off the screen said and a team of men dressed in all black descended on Bucky, some trailing their guns of him while the others moved to tug his roughly from the seat. Visibly still out of it Bucky slumped against the men and they were forced to all but carry him over to the chamber, the same one on the other side of the room they were in.

It was then Aphrodite realised with shock what it was, and so did Steve if the whitening of his knuckles that could be seen through his gloves was an indication. On the screen the men attached wires onto Bucky with an ease that showed that it was routine for them and had been done, who knows how many times before. Once they were finished they stepped down and closed the metal door. Smoke began billowing out from below the door and through the side then the video cut out.

There was a moment of silence when Steve suddenly snapped grabbing the edge of the table and flipping it over with a loud crash - which wasn't a particularly easy feat considering the fact that it was bolted to the floor – all of the equipment and computers meeting a rather abrupt end along with it.

"Steve?" Aphrodite asked anxiously nervously fiddling with her fingers watching his shoulders heave with not exhaustion, but with anger.

"Let's go." he said sternly already making his way to the exit.

"Steve?" She called again.

"Now."

* * *

That brought her back to the present, she wondered how she was going to approach the topic with him as she entered the bedroom but was confused upon finding it empty. Only one other place he could be she thought entering the bathroom, then had to bite back a small smile.

Steve was there alright, in the bathtub with the water chest high, one arm handing over the side and with his head reclined on the edge of the tub sleeping. He stirred sloshing the water slightly when she closed the door behind her and blink blearily when she made her way to the tub kneeling down at the side of it.

"Hi," he said rolling his head to accept the kiss the offered.

"Hi," she responded reaching a hand up to twine in the hair at the top of his head.

"I'm sorry." He said leaning into her hand like a dog seeking attention, referring to his outburst from earlier.

"It's okay," she told him while shaking her head. "You ready to talk?"

He sighed but nodded, Aphrodite hummed then stood up and Steve furrowed his brow and was about to ask where she was going but he laughed instead when she swung her leg over the side of the tub then the other and settled herself down, half on top of him. He shuffled to the side and chuckled at the water that poured over the tub's edge at her added weight, but paid it no mind as he brought the arm that was previously hanging over the side of the tub to wrap around her shoulder and play with the edges of her now wet hair.

"Is this how were gonna' talk?"

"Uh-huh, you don't mind right?" she teased looking up at him.

"Not at all," he responded getting comfortable again, smile fading a little as he sighed thinking back to today's events. "I knew what Hydra must have done to control him the way they did. But I wasn't prepared for-" he cut himself of with another sigh. "The ice, the machine. Seeing it was completely different. It's all my fault."

"That's not true and you know it."

"I should've gone back for him."

"Steve," she interrupted him. "There was no way you could've known he had survived that fall, it's not your fault."

"He jumped for me, when he could barely remember who I was, let alone himself. If I hadn't become Captain America Bucky wouldn't have been on that train in the first place." He muttered, but she heard him clear as day.

"Perhaps that's true." She said shrugging before reaching up and turning his head to face her, pushing her fingers into the crease between his eyebrows. "But if you hadn't become Captain America, then Hydra would have taken control a long time ago, they would've had the Tesseract too. Bucky would have died on the frontlines, this world would be a completely different place. And I never would have met you."

She was right, like she always was. When he had become Captain America he was finally doing what he had always dreamed of, he was a soldier fighting the good fight in one of the bloodiest wars in American history, and he had his best friend by his side. Then when Bucky died he continued fighting, because that was what he wanted, no needed to do. He needed to make Hydra pay for taking away his best friend. And when he himself had 'died' he'd done it to save people, millions of people and to prevent the Tesseract from falling into the wrong hands again.

Only to find out that his sacrifice was in vain, because seventy years later he would wake up, everyone he knew was dead or dying, Hydra wasn't gone and he was still fighting.

Had he known seventy years ago what he knows now, that he could just yell up at the sky and a literal goddess of a woman would come on down and take the Tesseract away and save him years of his life, would he have done it? Two years ago he would have said yes without a thought, but now as he gazed into the eyes of the woman in his arms. He wondered if everything that had happened in his life had led him to her. It's true if he hadn't become Captain America, the Steve Rogers would never have met her. He wouldn't have had the chance to fall so deeply in love with her the way he was.

Maybe it was fate, that everything that had happened to him was just a long winding road to the love of his life. So the answer was no, he wouldn't go back and do anything differently, in fact he would do it all again a hundred times over if that each time led him back to her.

The sudden revelation nearly brought tears to his eyes as he leaned in and kissed her she kissed him back without a thought but began to pull back after a beat, "Steve?" She whispered against his lips.

"I love you." He interrupted raising his head to look her in the eye, she stared back at him in utter shock, his eyes were shining a little and his cheeks flushed but his voice was steadfast and strong as he brought his hand to her cheek and ran his thumb over her lips, "I'm in love with you," he repeated keeping his eyes locked on hers. "And I can't hide it anymore." He rushed out before pressing his lips back to hers urgently, like he needed to do so in order to breathe as he let himself forget for a while. Forget about everything from Hydra, to Shield, to his shield. Because right now he didn't want to be Captain America. He wanted to be Steve Rogers, a man who was about to make love to his woman for the first time.

Aphrodite was still reeling from the shock as she kissed him back and let him move her to straddle him in the tub, the water sloshing over the sides of the tub with the movement but neither of them paid it any mind.

Just as he tongue began to trace her lips she pulled back keeping his head in her hands so she could hold him back look him in the eye this time as she said the words. "I love you too."

He smiled so wide that his cheeks hurt, happy, and stupidly because god damnit he was in love, and she loved him back. So he kissed her again, trying and falling to stop smiling when her tongue touched his, then he pulled back dragging his teeth across her bottom lip as he went.

"Say it again?" He begged.

"I love you." She responded right away and caught his lips again slipping her tongue into his mouth to tangle with his. Steve held onto her and leaned back into the water in the tub submerging them both for a moment, never once relinquishing each other's lips. They came back up and sucked in deep breaths in between increasingly ravenous kisses, when Steve pulled away again it was to remove her sopping wet dress and drop it out the side of the tub, then it was right back to ravaging her with his lips while his hands explored her newly exposed skin taking special care to caress his favourite part of her.

This time it was her who leaned back into the water and he chased her until they were underwater again, when they came back up Steve groaned at the way that she was rubbing against him and decided it was time to relocate.

"Hold onto me." He muttered into her lips, and she did so without question. When he adjusted his grip on her backside he stood up out of the water and stayed there for a second, unable to get enough of kissing the woman in his arms, then stepped out of the tub to begin making his way to the door. He had to pull away from her and open his eyes long enough to wrestle with the door, and nearly take the thing off its hinges when she moved to trace her lips all around his neck and scratch her nails down the back of his head.

Finally he pulled the door open and the rush of cool air on his heated skin was more than welcome as he entered the bedroom and promptly toss her onto the bed when he got close enough. He relished in the sound of her laughter as she bounced on the bed when she landed then joined her on the bed when she made room for him in between her legs.

* * *

Sam was all but skipping down the hallway to the hotel room, he'd never been happier in his life to have a friend who was a mind reader. He slipped the key into the lock and hurried in to find his bag and the pack of condoms he knew was stashed in there when the sound of a loud groan made him stop.

When a second more feminine sounding moan reached his ears he slowly began to backtrack so as not to disturb the couple's apparently intimate time. On second thought, he thought closing the door behind himself, those condoms at the concierge's desk didn't seem so expensive after all.

* * *

Steve had his face buried in the side if Aphrodite's neck working at that spot beneath her ear that seemed to drive her crazy, and the sounds flowing into his ear kept on reminding him of that as he slid his hands beneath her back to remove the bra she wore. All the while he worked his hips against her and bumping against the one thin barrier that keep them separated.

He traced his kisses back up to her lips tugging up both of her legs around his waist so he could slide his hands back up her thighs and catch either side of her underwear with his fingers, nearly ripping the thin fabric in half when he pulled them off. Then he was right back on top of her, all but smothering her with his size but she didn't care trying in vain to pull him even closer. And there was only one way for them to be even closer than they already were.

Aphrodite pulled away from him and sunk down into the fluffy pillows, staring up at him with a different sort of softness than his was used to. She looked into his blue as and noticed for the first time that there were flecks of green scattered throughout, it was a small detail about him, something barely noticeable to anyone else but to her it was like a little secret she got to keep.

Steve stared right back at her, her eyes reminding him of the ocean just before a big storm rolled in. Crystal clear and calm, the waves flowing just enough to warn you of the destruction that was to come, the slight ring of gold surrounding her pupil reminded him of the sun. Telling him of the power she exuded and the warmth she brought to his life.

She brought her lips to his again, slower compared to the insatiable kisses from moments before but he didn't care one bit. He took his hand from her thigh and traced it up her arm and around the back of his neck to he could remove it and lace his fingers with hers to pin them down on the bed next to her head.

"I love you." He whispered into her mouth as he moved his hips so that with only the slightest of movements they would be joined together.

"I love you too."

She kissed him the same time he pushed into her and she pulled away to release a shuddering gasp. It had been a long time since she'd been with a man, and since Steve wasn't a small man by anyone's standards it took her body a moment to adjust to his size, stretching a squeezing to accommodate his generous length. Above her Steve groaned his head dropping once he was fully seated.

"God," he breathed almost feeling paralysed by the way her tight heat was gripping him.

His arms shook and he dropped down to his elbows the hand within hers tightening, as his entire body felt coiled tight like a spring.

"Steve," she groaned fingers digging into his lower back urging him on. "Love, you have to move. Please?"

How could he refuse her when she begged so sweet? He started moving his hips, slowly at first but slowing building up speed as he gained more confidence, her name feel from his hips with every movement of his hips against hers. Her moans of delight and pure pleasure kept of building up right next to his ear as he was still on top of her head resting in the crook of her neck, every inch of their bodies pressed as close as they could get. When he felt the tell-tale heat striking across his lower stomach he groaned again, wanting to hold out longer, wanting to get her there first as he brought his lips back to hers plunging his tongue into her mouth. But he found that he couldn't hold out for very long, and when the tips of her short nails dug into his back, all his senses were on fire and he was completely overwhelmed by  _her._

It only to a few more shallow thrusts for him to loose himself, stiffening and groaning as he clung to her. She held him running a hand through his hair as he let himself go a final shudder running down his body as the waves of pleasure finally began to subside.

He must have blacked out after he pulled out of her and rolled onto his back because when his eyes opened again she was propped up on his chest a satisfied smile on her face softly running her fingers up and down his collarbone. They'd done it. Or he'd done it? Dammit did she even come? He was a fucking idiot, its official.

"I'm sorry," he blurted out before he could stop himself, "You didn't even – I'm sorry." He said again still kicking himself.

"Don't be." She said soothingly looking amused at his attempted to apologize about something that was well beyond his control. "It's completely understandable for you to lose yourself like that."

Steve sighed but nodded already deciding that he was going to make it up to her despite what she had said, he'd be ready to go again in a few short minutes. Being a super-solider had its perks. He thought smugly as he looped his arm around her and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

"That was," he trailed off searching for the right word.

"Perfect," she finished for him leaning up to kiss him.

Steve underestimated his own stamina when he was with the right person and was hardening up again when a thought struck him.

"Hey," he said reluctantly pulling away from her. "We didn't use protection." He said concern beginning to lace his tone.

She smiled and began to climb on top of his throwing her leg over his so she could straddle his waist, he helped to steady her but a little bit of worry still gripped him.

"I have that sorted," she told him running her hands up his chest. "We were all given a contraceptive potion, its effective. No little ones until we're absolutely sure we are ready."

"Well in that case." Steve all but growled reaching up to tangle his fingers in her hair and pull her mouth back down to his, while they kissed she reached down between them taking his length into her hand and stroking him into full hardness, he groaned again but didn't release her mouth as she adjusted her position until she could begin to take him in.

Slowly for her sake, she slid down his length and pulled away but stayed pressed against him her breast dragging against his chest, her hair falling in a veil around their faces as she began working herself on top of his. Finding a rhythm, that was faster and deeper with each roll of her hips against his, her mouth fell open on top of his and she let out a shaky moan before sitting up and finding a better angle for herself.

He was more than happy to let her take charge and brought his hands up to run them up her sides until he could cup her breasts running his thumbs over her nipples and listening to her moan when her own movements had him hitting her spot just right. He released her breast when her faster movements had them bouncing and moved his hands down to her hips so he could grip his and thrust upward to meet her for every move she made.

She moaned again and this time it was his name as one of her hands dropped to place over his where it rested on her hips.

"There. Right there." She encourage her other hand falling to anchor on his chest just over his head and he groaned this time.

"You feel so good." He mumbled his grip on her tightening to the point that he was sure he left some bruises but he was sure that she could care less, and neither could he.

When he felt himself beginning to slip over the edge he groaned again now more determined than ever to make sure she got there before him, so he took his hand from her waist to move it between her legs and rub at that spot that nearly made her scream on top of him. That was all it took for her to tense up and tighten on him, she moaned loud and unbridled as she shook, it was incredible to watch her loose herself like that and he was in awe of her, and with the force of her heat tightening even more and all but strangling him he lost himself again, groaning and clenching his jaw as he spilled inside of her.

She collapsed on top of his chest when it was over and her tremors subsided, both of them panting and still joined as intimately as two people could be. He held her close running his fingers up and down her back before sitting up still cradling her close and brushing her hair back from her face. And she did the same for him the drying strands falling down over his forehead stubbornly as she pushed them back.

"I love you." She told him quietly again.

"I love you too." He responded kissing her one more time before settling them down in bed and they worked together to pull the covers up.

The bed was slightly damp form when they'd entered it right after getting out of the tub soaking wet, hours again to Steve's shock when he glanced at the clock. They paid it to mind getting comfortable in the bed Steve slid behind her and close as he could comfortably get , lest he get excited again and pushed his hand underneath the pillow she rested on the other arm thrown around her waist to tangle with her fingers as they both drifted off into sleep.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in posting this chapter, I wrote and deleted and edited at least 30 drafts and still nothing felt right. But finally I came to something I was satisfied with. Hope you guys enjoyed.
> 
> As always let me know what you think and what you'd like to see in the future. Leave me a review too, as you can see I'll be answering/responding to the ones can. So feel free to say or ask me anything.


	49. Chapter 49

It was a few days later Steve and Aphrodite were lounging on their bed, after a decision had been made to leave Europe the next day due to it being a dead end. Sam had stepped out to refill the ice bucket and give the couple a bit of alone time, he had just started looking them his friends in the eye again recently.

After he'd walked in on hearing them, then came back to the room the next morning to find Captain America making coffee in nothing but his boxers, along with the love bites scattered all around his neck, Sam had put two and two together.

"Oh my God," Aphrodite suddenly said and Steve felt her shudder in his arms before she jumped up.

"What? What's wrong?" He called scrambling behind her as she rushed to the door.

"I'll tell you in a minute." She said gleefully throwing open the door.

"Maybe you could tell me now?" He suggested rushing behind her as she literally ran straight through Sam who was on his way back to the room. Sam dropped the ice bucket that was in his hands in shock. He gave Sam an exasperated look as the both hurried to catch up with Aphrodite who burst through the stairwell and ran the two flights to the roof.

They burst through the door just in time to see Aphrodite throw her arms around the much larger figure, red cape swishing behind him.

Steve gulped when Thor picked his sister up off the ground and spun her around happily. He had hoped that maybe he would have more time to figure out how he would approach Thor with the fact that he was dating his sister. From watching and listening to Bucky's stories in the past he knew that big brothers were extremely protective of their little sisters. He just had a feeling that that would go double for Thor.

"Who's the big guy?" Sam questioned curiously, doing well at hiding his panting breaths.

"It's her brother." Steve said blankly.

"Oh," Sam said nodded absently before it dawned on him what Steve had just said. "Oh," he repeated knowingly before giving Steve a pat on the back. "Good luck with that brother."

Steve gave him an exasperated look but straightened up when Aphrodite approached with Thor in tow.

"Thor this is my friend Sam Wilson," she introduced and Thor smiled brightly shaking the man's hand with a grip that might have been a bit too enthusiastic if the way Sam shook out his hand when it was released was any indication. "And you remember Steve Rogers."

"Of course." he said shaking Steve's hand next. "It's good to see you again."

"You too." Steve responded.

"Not that I don't love seeing you brother, but what are you doing here? I thought you were with Jane is she alright?"

"Yes, Jane is well." Thor responded happily, nodding at the thought of his small scientist girlfriend. "Maybe we should move this inside," He suggested and they agreed the group moving back through the stairwell to the hotel room they were currently staying in.

"How did you even know I was on Midgard?" Aphrodite questioned her brother once they were seated at the round table in the hotel room. Steve was next to her and Sam was across the room leaning against the door jam.

"I didn't," Thor responded shrugging. "I saw you on the television fighting Shield alongside the Captain and the Birdman, which by the way," he suddenly said leaning forwards ignoring Sam's undignified scoff and Steve's laughter, "Why didn't you send for me? You know how much I love fighting." he said accusingly.

"There wasn't enough time?" She responded shrugging innocently.

He glared at her before accepting the answer. "Anyways, after Shield fell I started think about the battle of New York. After we took Loki back to Asgard, we thought his sceptre was lost."

"Right." she said nodding along. "Because it was."

"No it wasn't." Thor shot back making her eyebrow raise. "Jane looked into some of the files on the internet, Shield had the sceptre."

"The last time we saw the sceptre was on the helicarrier." Suddenly realising what her brother was saying.

"If Shield had Loki's sceptre that means Hydra has it now, for who knows how long." Steve said speaking for the first time.

"The sceptre is very unique its powers have no limits, especially in the wrong hands. We need to find it." Aphrodite told them.

"We might need a team for that." Steve said smirking slightly.

"I'll go prep the jet," Sam announced from where he had remind mostly quiet letting the Avengers sort discuss this amoung themselves.

"Why don't you join him sister?" Thor suggested just before Sam could leave the room making her glance at him inquisitively. "I'd like to have a little talk with Steve."

At that Steve blanched and Aphrodite looked back and forth between them, two of the most important men in her life. "Thor," she began worriedly but her brother cut her off.

"I'll be good," he told her repeating what she'd said to him back on Asgard when Jane Foster had come there and she'd whisked the scientist away to have her own chat, though Thor could hazard a guess that it was much more polite than the one he planned on having with the Captain. "I promise." he added reassuringly.

There wasn't much more she could say to that, giving Steve an apologetic look she stood from the table and tugged Sam out of the room, he wanted to stare and watch the inevitable showdown but a harsh pull from the woman robbed him of that and they both disappeared from the room with a sharp crack.

Thor turned back to Steve and a grin spread across his lips, this was going to be fun. "Let's go for a walk," he suggested lightly leaving no room for question when he stood from the small table and picked up Mjölnir forcing the other man to stand as well and wearily follow him from the room.

* * *

His sister had, had her fair share of suitors in the past, of course she did, Thor wasn't blind to the affect his sister had on men. Though sometimes he wished he was, deaf as well, it still irked him to no end hearing other warriors, or men who he considered friends talk about what they wanted to do with her, to her. He has gotten into many a fights because of one too many inappropriate comments.

Even still he could count the number of times Aphrodite had been in a relationship on one hand and still have fingers left over. And it had been Loki that had delivered the threatening speech since he always had a way with words while he had just stood to the side and looked big.

But now he had to play both big brother rolls.

It had taken him all of five seconds in their presence to figure out that his sister was in a relationship with Captain America, and surprised though he was he was happy for her, truly she was shining in a way he hadn't seen since Loki had died. And he knew that was because of Steve, even still this had to be done.

"You see Captain," he began calling Steve by his title rather than his name, they were taking a long stroll to where the quinjet was housed away from the city. "My sister is special, she's good. Kind. Beautiful." he tossed his hammer up then caught it, and suddenly got an idea and stopped walk forcing Steve to do the same. "And she's a lot like my hammer, strong and fiercely loyal." He threw his hammer and it sailed back past Steve's head and to his hand. "But most important she'll only let those that are worthy pick her up." He threw the hammer again.

"The truth is I like you Steve, but I love my sister much more," he threw his hammer hard and gripped Steve by the shoulder turning him so that when it came back they'd both see it and Steve was directly in his path.

"Know this Steve Rogers," he said into his ear holding him in a grip that would have brought a lesser man to his knees. "Nothing, no force can stop Mjölnir as it returns to my hand. And if you hurt my sister I will not hesitate to crush you with it. Understood?" He wanted until Steve nodded quickly as Mjölnir was sailing back to toss him aside and catch his hammer, feeling quite proud of himself as he did.

"Thor," Steve said called as he righted himself. "I understand why you did that, but I promise You, I love your sister and have no intention of ever hurting her. I'd kill myself before I let that happen."

Thor nodded impressed, "Then we have an accord." He said offering his hand too which Steve took and shook firmly. And if Thor might have squeezed a tad too hard and got a bit of satisfaction when Steve flinched in response. He'd never admit it out loud.

And just for a little bit of extra intimidation, "Now let's get to the jet." he grinned grabbing a handful of the back of the man's shirt and giving him no time to protest before he swung his hammer and took off, dragging Captain America along with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is so short, it was a bit rushed. I'm travelling tomorrow and wanted to get this chapter out so I could focus fully on writing AOU while I was away.
> 
> Speaking of, as soon as I get back we'll be diving straight into the highly anticipate Age of Ultron, so please feel free to start sending predictions, suggestions and everything in between my way. I always love hearing your ideas.
> 
> I'd especially love your opinions on a few things, how you think Aphrodite and Wanda should meet and they relationship going forward? The dream sequences, not just Aphrodite's either, Steve's and Thor's as well. And the cave scene.
> 
> As always let me know what you think and what you'd like to see in the future. Leave me a review too, as you can see I'll be answering/responding to the ones can. So feel free to say or ask me anything.


End file.
